ANGLO-SAXON dJEG-MMl 



DISSERTATION 

PRESENTED TO THE BOARD OF UNIVERSITY STUDIES 

OF THE JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY FOR THE 

DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY 



BY 



FREDERICK TUPPER, Jr. 

PROFESSOR OF RHETORIC AND ENGLISH LITERATURE, 
UNIVERSITY OF VERMONT 



baltimore 

The Modern Language Association of America 

1895 



1 



ANGLO-SAXON dJEGMMl 



DISSERTATION 

PRESENTED TO THE BOARD OF UNIVERSITY STUDIES 

OF THE JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY FOR THE 

DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY 



BY 



FREDERICK TUPPER, Jr. 

PROFESSOR OF RHETORIC AND ENGLISH LITERATURE, 
UNIVERSITY OF VERMONT 



BALTIMORE 

The Modern Language Association of America 
1895 



tf 






°¥ Congress 



JOHN MURPHY & CO., PRINTERS, 
BALTIMORE. 



[Reprinted from the Publications of the Modem Language Association of 
America, Vol. X, No. 2.] 



\ft 



£■£ 



f 



r* 






TO 
MY UNIVEESITY COMRADES 

JAMES PINCKNEY KINARD 

AND 

JOHN McLAEEN McBRYDE, Je. 






TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



PAGE 

Introduction , 1 

Bibliography 2 

Chapter I. The Anglo-Saxon Day 7 

Classes of Day : 

I. Natural Day 10 

II. Artificial Day 11 

Horology Notes 12 

Horology , 13 

Kegulation of Time: 

[. Divisions of Night and Day 16 

II. Anglo-Saxon Horologies 18 

III. Length of Sunday 22 

The Canonical Hours 25 

Previous Treatment 28 

Number and Symbolism 31 

Uhta 36 

Uhta in Middle English 39 

Hancred 39 

On jErne Morgen 42 

1. Dsegred 44 

2. Prime 46 

Undern 50 

1. Undern in Anglo-Saxon 51 

(a) In Canonical Usage 53 

(6) As a Meal-time 53 

2. Undern in Middle English 54 

Middaeg 60 

V 



VI CONTENTS. 

PAGE. 

None 62 

1. None in Anglo-Saxon 62 

(a) As a Meal-time 63 

(6) On Fast Days 64 

2. None in Middle English... 65 

^Efen 69 

As a Meal-time 72 

Compline 74 

Conticinium and Intempesta Nox 75 

Chapter II. Rubrics to Anglo-Saxon Gospels 77 

Introduction 77 

Tables 80 

Notes to the Rubrics 91 

Midwinter 91 

Yule and Yule Feast 95 

On Cylda Maesse-dseg 97 

Eighth Mass-day to Midwinter 97 

12th Day 102 

Septuagesima and Sexagesima 103 

Candlemas 105 

To Caput Jejunii 105 

Friday in the "Cys-wucan" 106 

Halgan Dseg 107 

The Anglo-Saxon Lent 108 

Myd-festene 110 

Sunday, 5th Week in Lent Ill 

St. Gregory's Mass-day Ill 

Thursday before Easter Ill 

Langa Frige-dseg 112 

Easter Even 113 

Easter Day 114 

Ofer Eastron be J?sere rode 118 

Gang-days 119 

Ascension 123 

Pentecost 124 

Ember Days 125 

Midsummer 126 



CONTENTS. Vll 

PAGE. 

St. Michael's Mass-day 127 

All Saints' Mass 127 

Advent 127 

On Ssetern-dseg to JEw-fsestene, etc 128 

To Cyric-halgungum 130 



ANGLO-SAXON D^G-M^EL. 

(" Swa swa J>a geleafullas raederas hit gesetton, and eac gewisse dseg-mael 
us swa taecaft," Leechdoms, in, 256.) 

Introduction. 

I began my work upon this subject with a study of the 
Anglo-Saxon year ; but this, I was soon convinced, meant 
nothing less than a study of medieval astronomical science, 
and required far more leisure and aptitude than I possessed. 
I have, therefore, chosen to limit myself to particular portions 
of this broad subject. 

In my first chapter, I discuss the Anglo-Saxon day and 
the method of determining its divisions. To the mathemati- 
cal treatment, I regret that I am unable to bring the scientific 
sense that it demands ; but the results reached in my earliest 
pages are, I believe, accurate and, I hope, not without value. 
In the second part of this chapter, I make the Canonical 
Hours the basis of a detailed study of the Anglo-Saxon 
divisions of time, and seek to show what these divisions 
meant to clerk and layman. I use freely the Benedictine 
church offices, when they serve to fix the time of the hours ; 
and have been much assisted by the labors of students of 
ecclesiastical institutions like Fosbroke (British Monachism, 

1 



2 



1843) and Bouterwek (Ccedmon's Biblische Dichtungen, 1854, 
Chap. viii). 

I am quite well convinced of the insufficient character of 
my study of the Middle-English Hours. Even this modest 
attempt to supplement work in the older field is much more 
than has yet been done; and my results here will, I doubt 
not, be confirmed by more thorough research. Lexicons con- 
tain much of the material that I have collected independently, 
but this fact does not diminish the worth of a tabulation of 
references, which, in their previous arrangement, could give but 
little help to the student of Anglo-Saxon Dseg-msel. 

The purpose of my second chapter is to present in Calendar 
form the Rubrics of the Anglo-Saxon Gospels ; to trace the 
history of the connection between text and date from the early 
days of the Church until our own time ; and, by a system of 
notes explanatory of the Rubrics, to discuss the Anglo-Saxon 
feasts and fasts. I mention necessary introductory details at 
the beginning of this chapter. 

I had in mind to discuss the Year, Seasons and Day in 
Anglo-Saxon poetry ; but I reserve this treatment on account 
of the length of my paper. A reference from my headings 
to Grein's Sprach^chatz will, however, put at command the 
necessary material. 

I have not deemed it necessary to swell my Bibliography 
with texts used for one or two references. These, and the 
Middle-English works employed, are sufficiently defined when 
mentioned in the body of the paper. The sources of much 
of my study of the Rubrics are given in the introduction to 
the second chapter. 

Bibliography. 

1. Leo Allatius, Be Mensura Temporum. Coloniae Agrip- 
pinae, 1645. 

2. B. Assmann, Angelsachsische Homilien und Heiligenleben, 
Grein, Bibliothek der A.-S. Prosa, in. Kassel, 1 889. 



ANGLO-SAXON VJ&Q-MML. 3 

3. J. H. Blunt, Annotated Book of Common Prayer. New 
York, 1889. 

4. K. W. Bouterwek, Ccedmons des Angelsachsen bihlische 
Dichtungen. Einleitung, i-ccxxni. Gutersloh, 1854. 

5. K. W. Bouterwek, Calendcwide, i. e., Menologium Eccle- 
siae Anglo- Saxonicae Poeticum. Gutersloh, 1858. 

6. K. W. Bouterwek, Screadunga (pp. 23-31, De Tempori- 
bus Anni). Eberfeld, 1858. 

7. A. E. Brae, Chaucer's Astrolabe (pp. 90-101, " Essay on 
Chaucer's ' Prime ' "). London, 1870. 

8. Edmund Brock, 13th Century Latin Description of Chi- 
lindre. Essays on Chaucer ', his Words and Works. Chaucer 
Society, 1868. 

9. Marquis of Bute, Roman Breviary, published by Pius V. 
and Urban VIII. Edinburgh, 1879. 

10. Oswald Cockayne, Narratiunculae Anglice Conscrip- 
tae. London, 1861 (cf. Baskerville, "Epistola Alexandri," 
Anglia, iv, 139-167). 

11. Oswald Cockayne, Leechdoms, Wortcunning and Star- 
craft of Early England. 3 vols. Rolls Series, 1864-1866. 

12. Oswald Cockayne, The Shrine. 1 London, 1864-1869. 

13. Sir William Dugdale, Monasticon Anglicanum (i, 
xxvn sq., Regularis Concordia Anglicae Nationis Sancti- 
monaliumque; cf. Bibliography, sub. Logeman). London, 
1846. 

14. Gulielmus Durand, Rationale Divinorum Officiorum 
(1286). 2 E. Lauwermann, Venice, Valentine Press, 1589. 

15. Elizabeth Elstob, English Saxon Homily on the Birth- 
day of St. Gregory. London, 1709 (see Thorpe, Homilies). 

1 Missing from copy in Johns Hopkins University Library : Title-page, 
17-32, 49-64, 81-96, 129-144, 161-176, 193. At the last moment I have 
availed myself of a complete copy in the G. P. Marsh Collection, Billings 
Library, University of Vermont. 

2 "Adjectum fuit praeterea aliud Divinorum Officiorum Rationale ab Joanne 
Beletho, Theologo Parisiensi ab hinc (1589) fere quadringentis annis 
conscriptum" (Title-page). 8°, 375 double pages. Kebound, April, 1880. 
Borrowed from Harvard Library (Catalogue, in, 614). 



4 FREDERICK TUPPER, JR. 

16. Kev. J. Forshall and Sir F. Madden, Wycliffiie Versions 
of the Holy Bible. 4 vols. Oxford, 1850. 

17. T. D. Fosbroke, British Monachism (pp. 28-38, "Dun- 
stan's Concord of Rules "). London, 1843. 

18. Samuel Fox, Menologium seu Calendarium Poeticum. 
Leicester, 1830. 

19. J. A. Giles, Complete Works of Beda. 6 vols. London, 
1843. 

20. C. W. Goodwin, IAfe of St. Guthlac. London, 1848. 

21. C. W. M. Grein, JElfric de Vetere et Novo Testamento, 
Pentateuch, etc. Bibliothek der A.-8. Prosa, I. Kassel (1872), 
1885. 

22. Jacob Grimm, Teutonic Mythology (Trsl., 4th edition, 
by Stallybrass). 3 vols. London, 1882. 

23. R. T. Hampson, Medii Aevi Kalendarium. 2 vols. 
London, 1841. 

24. W. C. Hazlitt, Popular Antiquities of Great Britain 
(Brand). 3 vols. London, 1870. 

25. George Hickes, Antiquae Literaturae Septentrionalis libri 
duo (seeWanley). 3 vols. London, 1705. 

26. George Hickes, Letters between Dr. Hickes and a Popish 
Priest (Appendix, " De Officiis Diurnalibus et Nocturnali- 
bus;" translation by Wm. Elstob). London, 1705. 

27. William Hone, Every Day Book. 2 vols. London, 
1826. 

28. John Johnson, Collection of Laws and Canons of the 
Church of England. Edited by Baron. Oxford, 1850. 

29. J. M. Kemble, Saxons in England (Book I, Chap. 
xn). London, 1848. 

30. F. Kluge, ByrhtferWs Handboc oder Enchiridion (cf. 
Wulker, Grundriss, in, 627 sq.). Anglia, vin, 293 sq. 

31. Dr.Kurtz, Church History. Vol.i. Philadelphia, 1861. 

32. John Lingard, History and Antiquities of the Anglo- 
Saxon Church. 2 vols. London, 1845. 

33. H. Logeman, The Rule of St. Benet (Latin and Anglo- 
Saxon Interlinear Version.) E. E. T. Soc, 90, 1888. 



ANGLO-SAXON D^EG-MJEL. O 

34. H. Logeman, Anglo-Saxonica Minora (MSS., Royal 2. 
B. V. and Tib. A., in, folio 52r°). Anglia, xn, 513. 

35. W. S. Logeman, De Consuetudine Monachorum (Latin 
and Anglo-Saxon Interlinear Version ; cf. Dugdale, Con- 
cordia). Anglia, xin, 365-454. 

36. Thomas Marshall, Quatuor D. N. Jesu Christi Evange- 
liorum Versiones perantique duae, etc. (pp. 508-538, Notes to 
Rubrics). 4to (J. H. Library). Amstelaedami, 1684. 

37. Abbe Migne, Patrologia Latina and Patrologia Graeca 
(cited by number). 

38. Thomas Miller, The Old English Version of Bede's 
Ecclesiastical History of the English People. 2 parts. E. E. 
T. Soc, 1890-1891. 

39. R. Morris, Blickling Homilies of the 10th Century. E. 
E. T. Soc. (58-63-73), 1874-1880. 

40. Arthur Napier, Wulfstan, Sammlung der ihm Zuge- 
schriebene Homilien, etc. Berlin, 1883. 

41 . Arthur Napier, Altenglische Kleiniglceiten (MS. Caligula, 
A. 15, folio 140b). Anglia, xi, 7. 

42. Simon Newcomb and Edw. S. Holden, Astronomy. 
New York, 1887. 

43. H. W. Norman, Anglo-Saxon Version of the Hexameron 
of St. Basil, London, 1 849. 

44. Francis Peck, Desiderata Curiosa. London, 1779. 

45. Henry Petrie, Monumenta Historica Britannica (i, 1 00 
sq. " Remarks on Chronology of Mediaeval Historians "), 1 848. 

46. Ferdinand Piper, Kalendarien und Martyrologien der 
Angelsachsen. Berlin, 1862. 

47. Reinhold Schmid, Die Gesetze der Angelsachsen. Leip- 
zig, 1858. 

48. Arnold Schroer, De Consuetudine Monachorum, MS. 
Tib. A., in, lxv, folio 174a ("^Elfric's Extract" or "L. 
Fragment," Concordia, 170-257). Englische Studien, ix, 290. 

49. Arnold Schroer, Die Angelsachsischen Prosabearbeitung 
der Benedictiner Regel. Bibliotheh der A.-S. Prosa, n. Kas- 
sel, 1885. 



6 FREDERICK TUPPER, JR. 

50. Arnold Schroer, Die Winteney Version der Regula S. 
Benedicti. Halle, 1888. 

51. John Schilter, Thesaurus Antiquitatum Teutonicarum. 
Vol. i, Part ii, 63-69. Ulmae, 1728. 

52. S. Seabury, Theory and Use of the Church Calendar in 
Measurement of Time. New York, 1872. 

53. Walter W. Skeat, The Holy Gospels in Anglo-Saxon, 
Northumbrian and Old Mercian Versions. Cambridge, 1871- 
1887. 

54. Walter W. Skeat, Chaucer's Treatise on the Astrolabe. 
E. E. T. Soc., Extra Series, xvi, 1872. 

55. Walter W. Skeat, lElfric's Lives of Saints, i. E. E. 
T. Soc., 76, 82, 1881. 

56. William Smith and Samuel Cheatham, Dictionary of 
Christian A ntiquities (s. v. " Hours of Prayer " and " Letania "). 
London, 1875, 1880. 

57. Sir Henry Spelman, Concilia, deer eta, leges, constitu- 
tions in re ecclesiarum orbis Britannice 1 (cf. Thorpe, Laws). 
London, 1639. 

58. R. Stevenson, Rituale Ecclesiae Dunelmsis. Surtees 
Society, 1840. 

59. Henry Sweet, King Alfred's West Saxon Version of 
Gregory's Pastoral Care. E. E. T. S., 1871-1882. 

60. Henry Sweet, King Alfred's Orosius. E. E. T. S., 1883. 

61. B. Thomson, Godcunde Lar and peowdom (" Benedic- 
tine Service;" cf. Bouterwek, Cosdmon, and Hickes, Letters). 
London, 1875. 

62. B. Thorpe, Ancient Laws and Institutes of England. 
London, 1840. 

63. B. Thorpe, Homilies of the Anglo-Saxon Church (iEl- 
fric). 2 vols. ^Elfric Society, London, 1862. 

64. B. Thorpe, Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. 2 vols. Rolls 
Series, London, 1862. 

65. Sharon Turner, History of Anglo-Saxons. 3 vols. 
London, 1836. 

1 Borrowed from Harvard Library (Catalogue, in, 4668). 



ANGLO-SAXON D^G-M^L. 7 

66. Humfred Wanley, Librorum Vet. Septentrionalium 
Catalogus (Hickes, Ant. Lit. Sept., in). Oxford, 1705. 

67. Dr. Daniel Waterland, MS. Notes (made after 1720) 
in a copy of Somner's Dictionary (1659). 1 

68. Thomas Wright, Treatises on Popular Science in the 
Middle Ages. London, 1841. 

69. Thomas Wright, Homes of Other Days. . London, 1871. 

70. Thomas Wright, Biographia Britunnica Liter aria, I. 
London, 1842. 

71. Thomas Wright, Anglo-Saxon and Old English Vocabu- 
laries. Edited by E. P. Wiilker. 2 vols. London, 1883. 

72. Thomas Wright and J. O. Halliwell, Reliquiae Antiquae. 
2 vols. London, 1841. 

73. J. Zupitza, Ein weiteres Bruchstuch der Regularis Con- 
cordia, MS. C. C. C. C, 201, S. 2. (Translation of Concordia, 
617-753). Herrig, Archiv., lxxxiv. 



Chapter I. 
The Anglo-Saxon Day. 

In treating of the Anglo-Saxon day, its divisions and the 
time and significance of each, we have to deal with condi- 
tions very different from those that govern our calculations 
to-day. The following passage from Newcomb and Holden's 
Astronomy, p. 217, will prepare us for the discussion to 
follow : — 

" The division of the day into hours was, in ancient and 
medieval times, effected in a way very unlike that which we 
practice. Artificial time-keepers not being in general use, the 
two cardinal moments were sunrise or sunset, which marked 
the day as distinct from the night. . . . The interval between 

1 1720 as a terminus a quo for the Notes is attested by Waterland's cita- 
tions from Johnson's Laws. This copy of Somner is now in the Library of 
Dr. J. W. Bright. 



8 FREDERICK: TUPPER, JR. 

sunrise and sunset was divided into twelve equal parts called 
hours, and, as this interval varied with the season, the length 
of the hour varied also. The night, whether long or short, 
was divided into hours of the same character, only when the 
night hours were long those of the day were short, and vice 
versa. These variable hours were called temporary hours. 
At the time of the Equinoxes both the day and night hours 
were of the same length as those we use, namely, the 24th part 
of the day. These were, therefore, called equinoctial hours." 

The use of temporary hours among Jews, Greeks, and 
Romans is attested by many ancient writers cited by Leo 
Allatius in his learned treatise, De Mensura Temporum, Chap. 
rv. Among late Latin writers, Censorinus {De die nat, 
Chap, xxin, § 1 sq.) and Macrobius (Saturnaliorum, Lib. 
I, Chap, in, § 11) distinguish clearly between the Natural 
day of twelve temporary hours, beginning at sunrise and 
ending at sunset, and the Civil day of twenty-four hours, 
beginning at midnight. 

Now, is this true of Anglo-Saxon times ; are we to expect 
here also a distinction between Natural and Civil day, between 
temporary and equinoctial hours? This question can be linked 
with another : when was the Anglo-Saxon day beginning ? 
Answers are not far to seek. Bede, the prop of all Anglo- 
Saxon science, tells us in his De Temporum Batione, Chap. V 
(Migne's Pair. LaL, 90, p. 309) : 

"Dies definitio bifariam dividitur, hoc est vulgariter et 
proprie. Vulgum enim omnem diem solis praesentiam super 
terras appellat. Proprie autem dies xxiv horis, id est cir- 
cuitu solis totum orbis lustrantis irnpletur." 

iElfric, De Temporibus, a translation of Bede's Starcraft l 
(Wright, Pop. Science, 2 ; Cockayne, Leechdoms, in, 236) — 
henceforth quoted as Bede 2 — follows his master closely : 

"We hata}> senne dseg fram Sunnan upgange oj? sefen. ac 
swa J?eah is on bocum geteald to anum dagum fram J^sere Sun- 

1 Upon the Relation of this work to its originals, see Reum, Anglia, x, 
467 sq. 



ANGLO-SAXON T>MG-MML,. V 

nan upgange oft j?set heo eft becume ]?ser heo 8Br upstah — on 
baem fsece sind getealde feower and twenti tida." 

That remarkable potpourri, ByrhtferS's Handboc (Anglia, 
Vin, 317, 8), yields the following: 

" On twam wisum ys se dseg gecweden, naturaliter et vul- 
gariter, J?a3t ys gecyndlice and ceorlice ]?set ys bges dseges 
gecynd bset he hsebbe feower and twentig tida fram bsere 
sunnan upspringe j^set he eft up hyre leoman setywe. Vul- 
garis vel artificialis dies est \zdt bi|? ceorlisc dseg o'S'Se crseftlice 
fram J^sere sunnan anginne p>a?t heo to setle ga and eft cum 
mancynne to blisse." 

Here then is the most direct evidence that the Anglo-Saxon 
day, natural or artificial, began at sunrise. 1 

Prime, which must be sung at sunrise, — " Primsang on 
bsere forman daeg tid ]?aet is be sunnan upgange," Bouterwek's 
Caedmons biblische Dichtungen, p. cxcvi — shows the eccle- 
siastical time of beginning the day. 2 

The Anglo-Saxon usage does not correspond, therefore, to 
the Roman, nor to the sunset-beginning of the Hebrews, but 
to the one employed in the Saviour's lifetime, the Chaldaean 
and Persian (Bede, De Ratione Temporum, Chap, v, M. P. X., 
90, p. 313). Durand's Rationale, vn, I, 16, p. 281, shows 
that, even in his day (1286), a sunrise-beginning was favored. 
All time-conditions were altered by the introduction of clocks 
(infra); but Chaucer mentions the "Day artificial," that lasted 
from " the sonne arysing til hit go to reste " {Astrolabe, Part n, 7). 

x The meaning of morgen in many places is corroborative evidence: 
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, E. 1106, on J?e niht >e on mergen wses Cena 
Domini ; Leechdoms, ill, 6, and bonne oniht >onne Sumor gse> on tun on 
mergen ; Calendcwide, p. 16, 1. 218. In these cases the eras and mane mean- 
ings correspond. To mergen, eras is of frequent occurrence : Genesis, xix, 
1; Exodus, vn, 15 (mane); vm, 10 (eras); Ex., ix, 5; xvn, 9; xxxn, 5 
(eras), etc., etc. 

2 That Nocturnalis Synaxis (Excerptions of Ecgbriht, 28, Thorpe, A. L., p. 
328), .Matutinum (Benedictine Rule, Chap, xvi) and Uhtsang (Canons of 
JZlfric, 19, Thorpe, A. L., p. 444) precede Primsang, does not indicate the 
Koman midnight-beginning of the day, but the mere order of work of 
the monks, after leaving their beds. 



10 FEEBEEICK TUPPEE, JE. 

We have seen that the Anglo-Saxon distinguished between 
Natural and Artificial day. As upon this distinction hangs the 
difference between the equal or equinoctial and the unequal or 
temporary hours, a detailed treatment of each class of day is 
necessary. 

I. Natural Day. 

The whole matter is put concisely by Bede, when he tells 
us (De Temporum Ratione, Chap, in, M. P. L., 90, p. 392) 
that, if we count the day from sunrise to sunset, it will con- 
tain more equinoctial hours in summer than in winter. This 
recognition of the Natural day for common use is confirmed in 
Bede 2 (Cockayne, Leechdoms, in, 260), and equinoctial hours 
are mentioned : De Temporum Ratione, Chap, xxxi, xxxin ; 
De Ratione Computus, Chap. II ; De Divisione Temporis, Chap. 
vtii ; Ecclesiastical History, I, 1 (Giles, p. 30, 1. 27). 

The Natural day is treated in a Book of Martyrs of King 
.ZElfred's reign (Cockayne) : 

Shrine, p. 69. March. Night, 12 hrs. Day, 12 hrs. 

" " 79. April. " 10 " " 14 " 

" " 99. June. " 6 " " 18 " 

" " 110. July. " 8 " " 16 " 

" " 124. August. " 10 " " 14 " 

" " 153. November. " 16 " "8 " 

This list is remarkably supplemented by ByrhtferS : 
B. 59, Anglia, vm, 305, 32. Jan. Night, 16 hrs. Day, 8 hrs. 



".84, 


a 


a 


311,5. 


May. 


u 


8 " 


K 


16 " 


" 86, 


u 


u 


311,22. 


Aug. 


a 


10 " 


U 


14 " 


" 86, 


a 


a 


311,27. 


Sept. 


a 


12 « 


a 


12 " 


" 87, 


a 


a 


311,32. 


Oct. 


a 


14 " 


a 


10 " 


" 88, 


a 


(( 


311,42. 


Dec. 


a 


18 " 


u 


6 " l 



1 The hours of day and night in each month are given: Cotton Vitellius 
E., xviii ; Cotton, Titus D., xxvn (Hampson, Kalendarium, I, 422 sq., 
435 sq). 



ANGLO-SAXON D^G-M^L. 11 

Of course any systematic time-measurement (ByrhtferS, 
115-120, Anglia, vin, 317-18) presupposes the use of the 
Natural day, but this will be treated later. 1 

II. Artificial Day. 

The evidence that unequal hours were employed by the 
Anglo-Saxons is very conclusive. In the passage mentioned 
under the Natural day, Bede shows that the twelve hours 
of the Artificial day — the time from sunrise to sunset — are 
necessarily*unequal ; and the frequent mention of aequinoctiales 
horae argues for those of another order (Bede 2 , Cockayne, 
Leechdoms, ill, 236, 256). iElfric, who had translated portions 
of the De Temporibus (see Bede 2 ), and assented elsewhere in 
his works to Bede's astronomical teachings (Thorpe, Homilies, 
I, 100, "Se lareow Beda tity us mid miclum gesceade, etc.") 
clearly recognizes the Artificial division, Thorpe, Homilies, ii, 
388, 14 : "An wsecce haefS J?reo tida, feower wseccan gefylle]? 
twelf tida, swa fela tida haef # seo niht." The writer of the 
JElfredian Metres had unequal hours in mind, when he departed 
thus from his original (iv, 18) : 

"Hwset J?u fseder weorcest 

sumorlange dagas swi|?e hate; 

\a&m winterdagum wundrum seeorta 

tida getiohhast." 
In Anglo-Saxon times, unequal hours had their support in 
the Hours of the Canons. Though these were strictly for 
" hooded men " or monks (cf. Opening of Benedictine service, 
and Byrhtferft, 123, Anglia, vin, 319, " gemearcode cnihtas "), 
there can be but little doubt that with them the laity were 
perfectly familiar. The Homily on the fifth Sunday in 
Quadragesima (Assmann, Grein's Biblioiheh der A.-S. Prosa, 
in, Chap, xii, p. 144) directs laymen who cannot attend daily 

1 References to Chaucer are interesting here : Complaint of Mars, 1. 122. 
"A naturel day in derke, I let her dwelle;" Astrolabe, n, \ 7, 1. 12, cited 
Skeat's Note to above (Complete Works, i, p. 499), "The day naturel, that is 
to seyn 24 hours." 



12 



services to be present on Sundays and feast-days at Uhtsang 
and Mass and Evensong; and in the Blickling Homilies, p. 47, 
every Christian man is directed to cross himself seven times a 
day at the Canonical Hours. 

The Hours of the Canons are necessarily unequal. The 
gloss to Midday is always " sexta hora," and to None, " nona 
hora" {Benedictine Rule)-, in the Leechdoms, II, 116, 7, "to 
middes morgenes " is substituted for Undern, the day's third 
hour (Benedictine Rule; Bouterwek, Caedmon's biblische Dich- 
tungen, p. cxcvi ; Shrine, p. 79). Now, as Prime is necessarily 
at sunrise (supra), it is easy to see that, were equinoctial hours 
employed, on December 25th, when the sun rises at 8.20 a. m. 
and sets at 3.40 p. m. (Horology), Undern would not fall at 
mid-morning, but at 11.20 a. m. ; Midday ("sexta hora") at 
2.20 p. m., and None, three hours later at the end of the 
evening twilight. The temporary hours are, without question, 
those in use (cf. Smith, Dictionary of Christian Antiquities, s. 
v. "Hours of Prayer"). 

I shall now present a scientific study of the data, given in 
connection with an Anglo-Saxon Horologium (MS. Cotton 
Tib. A., in, fol. 176, Leechdoms, in, 218 sq.). This will 
disclose the old method of marking time and will aid our 
consideration of the Artificial day and unequal hours. 



Horology Notes. 1 

1. On account of the ancient error in the Calendar, Decem- 
ber 25th in the 10th Century, would be December 30th, 
according to corrected methods of calculation ; January 6th, 
January 11th, etc. 

1 In connection with this attempt to 

" tell what hour o' th' day 
The clock does strike, by Algebra,'' 

I must acknowledge the generous assistance of my friend, Dr. Horace C. 
Kichards, of the University of Pennsylvania. For any Hudibras-like 
blunders, I am, of course, personally responsible. 



ANGLO-SAXON D^G-M^L. 



13 



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14 FREDERICK TUPPER, JR. 

2. The variation of Latitude shows how hopelessly inaccu- 
rate were the monkish calculations. As, however, it is natural 
to suppose that the mistake would be smaller when the shadow 
was longer, I have taken the mean of the " winter latitudes/' 
53° 20'. Learning the Declination for each of the given 
dates from the Greenwich Ephemeris and Nautical Almanac, 
I determined from the formula, Cos h = — tan <j> tan d (h = 
hour-angle ; cj> = latitude ; d = declination), the time of sun- 
rise and sunset. As all glosses of Undern and None are 
" tertia hora " and si nona hora," and the Horology tells us 
that they are on equal sides of Midday (both having the same 
shadow), I have placed what I may term for convenience the 
"standard artificial" Undern at half-way between sunrise and 
Midday, the " standard artificial " None at half-way between 
Midday and sunset. 

3. Although the Undern and None of the Horologium are 
too inaccurate for scientific purposes, they are useful in point- 
ing out the probability of unequal hours in the calculation. 
By the formula in Newcomb and Holden's Astronomy, p. 44, 

2 - , cos.(<f> — d) — sin a f , 1 , ,,. 

2 i h = £*- r- i i when tan a = — (a = alti- 

^ 2 cos $ cos d t m v 

tude ; 1 = height of gnomon ; m = shadow) > , I have dis- 
covered that the hours of the Horology approach far nearer 
to the " standard artificial " Undern and None, than to the 
equinoctial hours, 9 a. m. and 3 p. m. 

4. The writer of the Horology knew so little of Astronomy 
that he gives us different lengths for the shadows at the two 
Equinoxes — an impossibility, of course. This in itself does 
not impeach the value of his measurements, for, as I have 
shown (1), March 21st was not really the Equinox at all. A 
passage from Bede, 2 Leechdoms, ill, 256, § 6, shows that other 
men of his day were farther from the truth than he : 

"Manigra manna cwyddung is ]>8et seo lenctenlice emniht 
gebyrige rihtlice on octava Kl. Aprilis, J?8et is on Marian 
Msesse dsege." 



sin 



ANGLO-SAXON DJEG-M^L. 15 

5. The editor of Pope Gregory's Liber Sacramentorum 
shows by citing (M. P. L. 78, p. 447) sentences at the close 
of an Horology by Bede, that the arrangement of this was 
to suit the Canonical Hours, — whose inequality demands no 
further discussion. This is strong accumulative evidence to 
the truth of results otherwise obtained. 

6. The following references to Bede may be useful in this 
connection. In the Libellus de Mensura Horologii (M. P. L. 
90, pp. 951-954) the Horology is carefully pictured and 
described. For length of shadows during different months 
of the year, and in different parts of the world, compare 
"Glossae et Scholiae," M. P. L. 90, 447, cited by Hampson, 
M. A. Kal., Glossary, s. v. "Hora," and De Ratione Tem- 
porum, xxxin, p. 447. Various pictorial representations of 
the Horology will be found : M. P. L. 90, pp. 433-436. 

7. A treatise on the length of the days of the year, MS. 
Harleian 941, 15th Century, printed in Reliquiae Antiquae, I, 
318, has this heading : " Thys tretys was made at Oxynforde 
be the new Kalendre and proved in alle the Universyty." 
The latitude of Oxford is, however, 2° less than that of our 
Horology. 

Long after Anglo-Saxon times, the Artificial day and 
unequal hours were known and employed. Philip of Thaun 
(circa 1121) notes the two kinds of day (Li Cumpoz, Mall, 
Strassburg, 1873, p. 11, 1. 323, or Livre des Creatures, Wright's 
Popular Science, p. 25) ; Durand (1286) recognizes the tem- 
porary hours in his Rationale, v, 2, p. 138, but the 13th Century 
Latin Description of the Chilindre (p. 51) gives the best evi- 
dence of the persistence of the Artificial day ; I quote from 
Brock's translation : " When you wish to know the hours on 
any day, turn the style or indicator over the part of the month 
in which you are, and the shadow of the style will show 
you the hours passed, that is the 1*2 hours of the day, whether 
the day be longer or shorter." This proves, as Mr. Brock 
says, that the hours used are unequal hours. 



16 

Even in Chaucer's day, when artificial time-keepers were 
in general use, temporary hours were not altogether a thing 
of the past. Equal and unequal hours exist side by side in 
the Astrolabe (Brae, 90-101) : 

Astrolabe, n, 8. "To turn the howres inequales in howres 
equales — knowe the nombre of the degrees in the houris in- 
equales and departe hem by 15 and tak ther thin houris equales." 

Astrolabe, n, 10 is interesting in connection with the use of 
planetary hours in the Knight's Tale (cf. Skeat's Notes, 
Clarendon Press Ed.) : 

Understond wel that thise houres inequalis ben cleped 
houris of planetes, and understond wel that some tyme ben 
thei lengere by day [than] by nyht and som tyme the con- 
trarie. — Compare Skeat's Astrolabe, Preface lxi; n, § 7, p. 21. 

The Artificial day will attract further attention, when I 
come to speak of the Canonical Hours. 

Divisions of Night and Day. 

In an interesting essay, " Die A el teste Zeittheilung des 
indogermanischen Volkes " (Sammlung gemein. wissenschaft- 
licher Vortrage, xm Ser, Heft 296, Berlin, 1878), p. 44 (324), 
Dr. O. Schrader has discussed the Indogermanic habit of 
counting by nights, and the precedence given to night in 
many words, — e. g. raucapativa, NvxOrjfjbepov, etc. 

Since the Anglo-Saxons also employed this method of 
counting (Menology, 1. 25, nihtgerimes ; 1. 48, ymb feower 
niht, etc., etc.), and since, whatever might be true of the 
Christian English, the Natural day began at sunset with their 
forefathers (Tacitus, Germania, 11 : a Nox ducere diem vide- 
tur ; " compare Kluge, Etymologische Worterbuch, s. v. Abend, 
Fastabend, Sonnabend), I shall begin with the divisions of the 
night. Of these there are several Anglo-Saxon descriptions : 

(a). Bede, 2 Leechdoms, in, 242 (cf. Wright's Biographia 
Britannica Literaria, I, 86-87), " Seo niht hsefS seofon daBlas 
fram ]>8ere sunnan setlunge o$ hire upgang. An J>sera dsela 
is Crepusculum, ]>set is iEfengloma. 0)>er is Yesperum )?39t is 



ANGLO-SAXON BMG-MJEU 17 

JEfen, p>onne se aefensteorra betwux p>9ere repsunge seteowa);. 
pridde is Conticinium J?onne ealle J?ing sweowiaft on hyra 
reste. FeorSa is Internpestum, pset is Midniht. Fifta is Gal- 
licinium, J?set is Hancred. Syxta is Matutimim vel Aurora, 
]>ddt is Dsegred. Seofb'Sa is Diluculum, J^set is se 8er marien 
betweox fam Dsegrede and sunnan upgange" (Capitals my 
own). Compare the above with the original, Bede, De Tem- 
porum Eatione, vm, M. P. L., 90, 323. 

(b). ByrhtferS, Handboc, 124, Anglia, vm, 319, 26, shows 
that he knows his Bede : 1 

Seo niht hafa^S seofon todselednyssa. Crepusculuni ys seo 
forme ];set ys iEfen-gloma, ofter ys Yesperum J;set ys iEfen 
o&Se Hrepsung, pridde Conticinium, J?set is Switima ofrSe 
Salnyssa timan, feorSe Iotempestivum, ]?3et ys Midniht o^e 
Unworclic tima, fifte Gallicinium J^set ys Hancred, |?on sceolon 
gode munecas arisan and gode singan, syxte Matutinum vel 
Aurora, pset ys Dsegred, J>on eac gewuniaft J?a syfre godes 
];egnas mid mode and stefne god towurSian and benedictus 
dfls bliSelice up ahebban. Seo seoftrSe ys J?aBre nihte todseled- 
nyss Diluculum gecigeS J^set ys serne mergen betwux Dsegrede 
and J?8ere sunnan uppgange (I again capitalize). 

(c). Supplement to iElfric's Glossary, Wright- Wiilker, Vo- 
cabularies, i, col. 175 : 



Mane ^Ermyrgen 
Crepusculum Tweone 
leoht vel Deorcung 
Conticinium vel Gallicinium 
Hancred 

Intempesta Nox Midniht 
Maligna Lux vel D Libia 
Tweonul Leoht 



Diluculum Dsegred 
Aurora Dsegrirna 
Prima Prim 
Matutinum Uhten-tid 
Tertia Undern 
Sexta Middaeg 
Suprema Ofer-non 
o]>]>e geloten dseg 
Vesperum iEfen 
Serum Bed-tid. 



1 This is natural as Byrhtferft had written a commentary upon Bede's 
scientific works: (Wiilker, Grundriss, p. 506). 
2 



18 FREDERICK TUPPER, JR. 

Under (c) I have included for convenience the divisions of 
the day. Of this Bede gives three main portions — if we can 
regard as genuine the tractate, De Divisione Temporis, M. 
P. L. 90, 656— and is closely followed by ByrhtferS, 123, 
Anglia, viii, 319, 21 : 

" Se dseg hsef-S J?reo todselednyssa. Seo forme hatte Mane, 
J?set ys .ZErne merigen, and seo ofter ys gecweden Meridies, 
and seo ]?ridde ys geciged Suppremum J^set ys on iEfen o&Se 
seo ytemeste tid." ' 

Each of the more important time-divisions given above 
will be discussed in connection with the Canonical Cursus. 

Anglo-Saxon Horologies. 

It is difficult to give briefly the long pedigree of the Hor- 
ology. Allatius, De Mensura Temporum, p. 33 sq., argues that 
it was known among the Hebrews, discusses the Clepsydra of 
the Greeks (cf. Aristophanes, A ves, 1695; Acharnians, 693; 
Vespae, 93; Aristotle, Poetics, 7, 11), and shows that water- 
clocks and sun-dials were known at Rome at the time of the 
first Punic War (Pliny, vn, Chap, lx), References to Yitru- 
vius, Petronius Arbiter and Censorinus, given by Beaupre* Bell, 
Archwologia, vi, 133, and by Gough, Archceologia, x, 173, 
show the antiquity of the Horology. 2 

In a scholarly article, "Recherches sur les Horloges des 
Anciens" (1716), Histoire de L ^ Academic des Inscriptions, 
Vol. iv, p. 148, I/Abbe Sallier mentions — citing in each 
case his authority — the more important time-keepers of early 
Christian times; the sun-dials of Boethius and of Cassiodorus; 

1 Their Anglo-Saxon names constitute the main interest that these hours 
have for us. The divisions and their Latin names were known long before 
Bede. Bede's list follows closely the spaces of time, given by Macrobius, 
Saturnaliorum, I, in, 12, and agrees, in all important particulars, with the 
hours of the ancients discussed by Lalamantius, "De Tempore," etc., in 
1570 (Gronovius, Thesaurus Graecarum Antiquitatum, 1701, vol. 9, p. 1047). 

* Cf. " Galenus ueber Sonnen und Wasseruhren," N. Sauppe, Philologus, 
xxiii (1866), 448. 



ANGLO-SAXON DiEG-M^L. 19 

the handsome clocks, sent by Paul 1st to Pepin le Bref, and 
by Haroun Alraschid to Charlemagne ; the great water-clock 
for the nightly hours, made by order of Pacificus, Archdeacon 
of Verona (d. 846) ; the golden horologe fashioned by Leon 
the Philosopher for the emperor, Theophilus ; and finally the 
wonderful mechanical invention of Gerbert, afterwards Pope 
Sylvester II. (circa 1000). 

In respect to time-markers, the Anglo-Saxons were not as 
fortunate as their neighbors. Of water-clocks and sand- 
glasses they probably knew little. Asser, in describing 
Alfred's famous candle-expedient (Wise, Ed., p. 67), tells us 
the straits of the king on cloudy days and on dark nights ; 
and the time-divisions enumerated (supra), and many pas- 
sages in prose and poetry show how entirely the monks and 
people relied upon the heavens as their guide (Boethius, 39, 
13, Fox, 223, 34 ; Boethius, 4, Fox, 8, 3 ; Alfred's Metres, 
IV, 13 (Latin, v, 10); Blichling Homilies, 137, 29; 163, 28). 

However much the stars and the shadow of the human body 1 
may have aided them, the sun-dial was the chief chronometer. 
In his medley of Latin and Saxon, ByrhtferS (Handboc, 
114, Anglia, yin, 317) describes the dial or dseg-rnsel of his 
day; on the 6th leaf of the MS. Cott, Tiberius, C. VI, 
11th Century, a figure is neatly drawn and named "Horolo- 
gium Solare " (W. H. Smyth, Archceologia, xxxiii, 10) ; but 
the Saxon remains in England help us most here. In the 
Journal of the British Archaeological Association, Vol. xxix 
(1873), p. 281, three Saxon dials are pictured and described : 

1st. The dial at Kirkdale in Kydale in the North Riding. 
The writer in the Journal, Cuming, does not note that a hand- 
some plate of this was accompanied by an excellent article by 
Brooke (Archceologia, v, 188). The inscription upon this is 
so valuable a bit of Anglo-Saxon that I append it in toto : 

l I have discussed at length above an horology with a 6 ft. gnomon. 
In connection with this, I must refer to a pamphlet by Dr. Foerster, " Ueber 
Zeitmaase und ihre Verwaltung durch die Astronomie," Berlin, 1872, pp. 
20-21 (Sammlung Wiss. Vortrage, I Ser., Heft 5). 



20 



" Orm • Gamal ■ suna • bohte • sanctus • Gregorius minster ■ ]?onne • 
hit-wes a3l to-brocan y tofalan. Chehitle j man (Htibner, 
from whom Earle translates, A. S. Literature, p. 49 : "y he 
hit let man ") newan from grunde Christe and Sanctus Gre- 
gorius in Eadward dagum cng. in Tosti daguni eorl." 
Under the dial. 
"And Haward me wroht and Brand pfs." 
Around radii of dial 
" ]?is is daeges s(se)l merca 
(to sunn) a Tillum (win)tere(s). 1 

2nd. The dial on the south side of the old Saxon church 
at Bishopstone, Sussex (Compare Gentleman's Magazine, 1840, 
p. 496, cited by Cuming). Upon it is inscribed the name 
"Bad™." 

3rd. Mural Solarium on south face of nave near porch of 
Bricet Church, Suffolk, 1096. 

Earle (loc. cit.) mentions, upon the authority of Htibner — 
not accessible to me — several dials with vernacular inscriptions 
in the North Riding of Yorkshire. 

Artificial time-keepers — i. e. clocks, in our sense of the 
word — were not introduced into England until the end of 
the 13th Century. With the fine-money of Ralph of Heng- 
ham, Chief-Justice of the King's Bench, a clock-tower was 
built near Westminster in 1288 (Archceologia, v, 416); MS. 
Cott. Galba E., IV, 14, fol. 103 (quoted Archceologia, xxxiii, 
8), mentions among the items of expense at Canterbury Cathe- 
dral in 1292, " novum orologium magnum in ecclesia, pretium 
xxx li ;" the " engine of Richard de Wallingford, Abbot of 
St. Albans in 1326, which showed the fixed stars and planets, 
the ebbing and flowing of the sea, the hours and the minutes 
of the hours" was justly famous; but the oldest English 
clock-relic was made in 1340 by Peter Lightfoot, a monk of 
Glastonbury, for Adam de Sudbury, his abbot (Archwologia, 
xxxiii, 11-12). 

x The bracketed letters constitute a "very ingenious conjecture" by Mr. 
Manning of Godelming, cited by Brooke. I am disposed to accept his 
reading ; but Brooke's Chehitle is clearly a Saxon Mrs. Harris. 



ANGLO-SAXON VMG-MJZL,. 



21 



The artificial system of time in use among the Anglo-Saxons 
was derived from classical sources (cf. Lalamantius, Thes. 
Graec. Antiq., Vol. ix, 1047). It has been treated by Bede, 
De Temporum Ratione, Chap, in ; De Ratione Computus, II ; 
De Divisione Temporis, I; but the only Saxon description is 
by ByrhtferS (Handboc, 115-121, Anglla, vm, 317-31 8). I 
give his table : 

564 Atoms make a Momentum (Styrung). 



4 Momenta 
2J Minuta 
4 Puncti 
6 Horae 
4 Quadrantes 



" Minutum. 

" Punctus (Prica). 

" Hora (Tid). 

" Quadrans (FyrSlingJ 

" Dies (Daeg). 



Let us reduce this, for the sake of convenience, to our 
present standard : 



376 Atoms 
1 Ostentum 
1 Momentum 
1 Minutum == 6 Minutes. 

1 Punctus (Prica) 1 =15 Minutes. 
4 Puncti = 1 Hour. 



= 1 Minute. 
= 1 Minute. 
= 1J Minutes. 



The guardian of the horology, who, like the Traprjrpia of 
the Greeks, was supposed to announce the hours, was known 
by various names : " horarum receptor " (Du Cange's Glos- 
sarium s. v.), "horoscopus" or " daegmaelsceawere " (Wright- 
Wiilker, Vocabularies, 1, 188, 34 ; cf. note), and perhaps "circa" 
('Concordia Regularise 1. 981, Logeman, Anglia, xin). The 
hours were announced by a bell ; Colloquy of JElfric, Wright- 
Wiilker, Vocabularies, I, 103 : 

Master — " Who awakes you at uhtsong ? " 

J As Bosworth-Toller shows in its excellent treatment of the word, a prica 
may be also the fifth part of an hour (cf. Leechdoms, in, 242, 7 ; in, 253, 17 ; 
Dietrich, Niedner's Zeitschrift, xxvi, 165). 



22 FREDERICK TUPPER, JR. 

Discipulus — "Sometimes I hear the bell (cnyll), and get 
up ; sometimes my master arouses me roughly with a stick." 

"Canons of Northumbrian Priests" (950)/ 36, Thorpe, A 
X., p. 318, "Gif preost on gesetne timan tida ne ringe, etc;" 
"Canons under Edgar" (960), 45, Thorpe, A. L., p. 399, 
"And we lseraj? J?8et man on rihtne timan tida ringe j Schroer, 
Benedictine Rule, xliii, p. 67, 20, ]>8et beacn ];8es bellhrincges 
(signum) ; xlviii, p. 72, 8, Kubric, Be getacniendum tidum 
Godes weorces = Winteney Version, 97, Be fam godcundan 
tyde hu careful sceal beo j?eo bellringestre, )?at hig beon ariht 
geringde; xlviii, 72, 11, 14; Concordia (Anglia, xin), 1. 212, 
218, 247, 256, 274, 360, 408, 592, 725, 964; Assmann, Homi- 
lies, xiv, 1. 106, Grein, Bibl. derA.-S. Prosa, in, p. 168. This 
will be discussed under None. 

Length of Sunday. 1 

Both the seventh and first days of the week were rest-days 
under the old dispensation (Exodus, xn, 16), and the mean- 
ing of " Sabbatum " is, therefore, not a little confused in the 
early English monuments. Of the many examples that pre- 
sent themselves, I select a few from the Anglo-Saxon Gospels: 
Matt., xn, 8, — rod craft fiarov, — Vulgate, Sabbati, Corpus MS. 
restedseges, Hatton MS. restes-dayges, Lindisfarne Gloss, to 
sunna-da3 and to sseternes-dseg, wses ftsera Judea sunna-dseg ; 
Mark, XV, 42, — irapaaKevrj b ecrrt, wpocrdftftarov, — Vulg. 
Parasceve quod est ante Sabbatum ; Corp. Hat., J^aet is ser 
sseterdsege, Rushworth MS., Lind. Gl., ]?8et is fore sunna-daeg; 
Luke, xxiii, 54, — crdftftarov eTrefyacrice, — Vulg., Sabbatum 
illucescebat, Corp. Hat., sseterdseg onlyhte, Rush, Lind. Gl., 
sunnadseg inlixade (Rush, -ende) ; Luke, xxiii, 56, — to /xev 
craft ftarov, — Vulg., et quidem Sabbato, Corp. Hat., on ssetern- 
dseg, Rush, synna-dseg, Lind. GL, sunna-daeg. In Bede, Eccl. 

1 Most of the material given in this discussion has been already printed 
by me in an Article upon " The Anglo-Saxon Sabbath," Nation, Vol. 56, No. 
1448, March 30, 1893. 



ANGLO-SAXON D^EG-MJEL. 23 

Hist, in, xiv (17), 208, 2, mention is made of "one of the 
rest-days that is now called Sunday. " 

This consideration of the regard paid to Sunday as a Jewish 
Sabbath will prepare us for the discussion to follow. Bede 
Be lemporum Ratione, vr, M. P. L., 90, 313, directs " that the 
English Sabbath, like the Jewish, be observed from evening 
to evening." The Anglo-Saxon laws are the chief testimony 
to this observance : compare Withred (697 A. D.), Thorpe, 
A. L., 17, Schmid, 16; Theodore, " Penitentiale," xvii, 6, 
Thorpe, A. L., 283 ; xxxviii, 8, Thorpe, A. L., 298. At a 
later day the Sabbath rest was extended to include the time 
between Saturday at None and Monday's dawn : compare 
Edgar's Laws, n, 5, Schmid, 188, Thorpe, A. L., 112; Canute, 
I, 14, Schmid, 262, Thorpe, A. L., 157. What was the reason 
for this change ? Lingard tells us (History of Anglo-Saxon 
Church, ed. 1845, I, 341) : "At a later period, some time 
before the reign of Edgar, though probably no change had 
taken place in the ecclesiastical computation, the freedom of 
the Sunday was enlarged in favor of the working population." 
This could be debated ; but another question presents itself. 
Why did Sunday receive honor in the Anglo-Saxon Church ? 
Two answers are ready from Anglo-Saxon churchmen : 

(1). iElfric, whose conservatism is well known, holds to 
the teaching of the Fathers (Homilies, n, 206, 30) : " Satur- 
day was called rest-day until Christ's passion. On that day 
Christ's body lay in the tomb, and he arose from death on 
Sunday, and this day is the day of rest to all Christian men, 
and holy, on account of Christ's resurrection. We must ever 
celebrate this day with spiritual honor," etc. 

(2). There were, however, other churchmen at this period 
who were not unaffected by the theories that had filtered into 
the Church a few centuries before (Alcuin, Lib. de Divinis 
Offieiis, xxvii, M. P. L., 101, § 487, p. 1226). One of these 
was the strong advocate of the Sunday observance in the col- 
lection of homilies classed under the name of Wulfstan. He 
agrees, of course, with the views of iElfric (xliv, 222, 28), 



24 FREDERICK TUPPER, JR. 

but to him the Lord's resurrection was not the only thing 
that made Sunday a rest-day. The catalogue of Scriptural 
events that he gives shows the blending of the Jewish Sab- 
bath with the rest-day of the new dispensation : xliii, 210, 
10, a On this day (sunnan-dseg) was Adam the first man 
created, and on this day Moses and his troop crossed the Red 
Sea dry-shod. On this day the Lord began to feed the people 
with manna, the heavenly meat. The Lord said : * Six days 
are given you to labor, but the seventh is the holy rest-day ; ' " 
xliii, 211, 11, "On Sunday was Christ baptized, and on the 
same day the Spirit descended upon his Apostles." 

The Wulfstan homilist follows the laws of his day in direct- 
ing that the holy Sunday be observed "frani non-tide J?ses 
sseterndseges o$ monandseges lihtincge" (xliii, 207, 10). 
Compare xliii, 205, 8 ; 208, 10 (the very words of Canute's 
law); 210,3,10; 211,10,15,18,28-29; 212,7; xliv (37), 
219, 11, 25; 220, 1, 20; 222, 1, 14, 30; 225, 14, 27; xlv 
(38), 230, 10; l (35), 272, 14; lvii, 293, 2; 296, 30. He 
had other than legal reasons in favor of the correctness of this 
observance. Very strong proof is found in the testimony of 
Nial, the Scotch deacon (Wulfstan, xliii, 211, 27), who had 
enjoyed the exceptional privilege of a five-weeks' visit to 
Paradise, and had declared upon his return, " that God was 
violently opposed to any work between None, Saturday and 
Monday's dawn." Another homilist of 150 years later had 
even stronger support (Morris, Old English Homilies, 1st Ser., 
E. E. T. Soc, Vols. 29, 43, IV, p. 44 ; Early English Speci- 
mens, i ; in, A. 20, 80). The Lord is made to say : " Arise 
now, Paul, arise ; I grant rest, according to your request from 
Saturday at None until Monday's dawn, even until Domes- 
day." 

Sunday was doubtless strictly observed among the Anglo- 
Saxons. The Laws, in many places, forbid trading, hunting, 
travelling, marriage and executions upon the Lord's Day. 
We have besides a remarkable bit of evidence from the early 
eleventh-century Colloquy of jElfric, Wright-Wiilker, Vocabu- 



ANGLO-SAXON DJEG-MJEL. 25 

laries, I, 92. The hunter is asked : " Did you hunt to-day?" 
He replies : " I did not because it is Sunday, but yesterday I 
hunted." 

The Canonical Hours. 

Bouterwek has devoted a chapter of his Ccedmon (Chap. 
vii, pp. clxxix-cxcii) to " Das Benediktiner Officium," and 
Fosbroke in his British Monachism, 3rd Ed., 1843, Chap. IV, 
p. 28 sq., has discussed in detail the Concordia Regularis 
(Constitutions of JEthelwold). 1 

This does not preclude a treatment of the subject from a 
point of view, so different as my own. Consistently with the 
general object of my paper, the Canonical Hours will be 
viewed rather as divisions of the temporal day than as points 
of time, having no significance save as seasons of prayer, and 
deriving their only importance from the scriptural events they 
recalled. 

The history of the Canonical Hours in the early church has 
been fully traced (cf. Smith, Dictionary of Christian Antiqui- 
ties, s. v. " Hours of Prayer ") ; a few citations from the 
Fathers are all-sufficient to show their origin. Tertullian, 
" De Jejuniis," M. P. X., 2, Chap, x, p. 1007, mentions three 
Hours of Prayer, " tertia," " sexta " and " nona ; " Cyprian, 
M. P. £., 4, 559, and Clement of Alexandria, M. P. G., 2, 
455, give the same number; Origen, "De Oratione," Chap. 
xii, M. P. 6r., 11, p. 457, names "sexta hora (Acts x, 9), 
mane (Ps. v, 4), vesperum (Ps. cxl, 2), and nocturnum (Mark, 
i, 35 ") ; Jerome, " Epistles," 22, M. P. Z., 22, p. 422, five, 
" tertia," " sexta," " nona," " diluculum " and " vesperum ; " 
but in "Epistle 30," loc. cit., 1119, he excludes " diluculum" 
in favor of " media nox ;" Apostolic Constitutions (end of 4th 
Century), Donaldson, Edinburgh, 1870, p. 247, differs from 

1 In Modern Language Notes, June, 1893, 1 have endeavored to put beyond 
question the identity of these works ; and to show, by internal and external 
evidence, that iEthelwold was the author. 



26 FREDERICK TUPPER, JR. 

Jerome in substituting " gallicinium " for " diluculum ; " in 
Benedictine Rule (c. 530), M. P. L., 66, the seven Hours, 
" rnatutinae, prima, tertia, sexta, nona, vesperum et comple- 
torium," are now firmly established, and the lists of Gregory 
the Great (d. 604), M. P. L., 78, p. 537, and of Chrodegang 
(d. 766), M. P. L., 88, 1066 (cited by Bouterwek, Ccedmon, 
clxxxv) are complete. iElfric recognizes the antiquity of the 
Hours, Pastoral Letter, 30, Thorpe, A. L., 456-457: "Four 
synods (in this case the four great Oecumenical Councils) 
appointed all the services which we have in God's ministry, 
at mass, at matins, and at all the Canonical Hours " (" To 
nisessan and to uhtsange and to eallum tidsangum "). 

With this short sketch of the Hours before us, we are 
better prepared to consider them in the Anglo-Saxon Church. 
I mention the main instances of their occurrence in church 
literature : 

1. Excerptions of Ecgbert, xxvm, Thorpe, A. L., 328 : 
" Prima est nocturnalis synaxis ; secunda prima hora diei ; 
tertia ipsa est hora quam tertiam vocamus ; quarta vero sexta 
hora ; quinta nona hora est ; ' sexta autem synaxis vespera 
hora est ; ? septimam namque synaxim completorium vocita- 
mus." 

2. Benedictine Rule, Chap, xvi : " Matutino (Gloss, 'iEfter- 
sangum ; ? Translation, ' D&egredsanguru '), Prima (Gloss and 
Trsl., ^Primsang'), Tertia (G. T., 'Undernsang'), Sexta (G. 
T., 'Middfiegsang'), Nona (G. T., 'Nonsang'), Vespera (G. T., 
'JEfensang'), and Completorium (G. T., ' Nihtsang ')." l 

3. Benedictine Service, Bouterwek, Ccedmon, cxciv, "iErest 
on a3rne morgen, and eft on undern-tid, and on midne 
daeg, and on non, and on sefen, and on foranniht, and on 
uhtantiman." Aerne morgen includes Dsegredsang and 
Primsang. 

'The Translation (Grein, Bibl. der A. S. Prosa, n) is to be dated about 
970 (cf. Article by the writer, Modern Language Notes, June, 1893), but the 
earliest MS. is of the first portion of the 11th Century. The Gloss (E. E. 
T. Soc, 90) is of the same age as the Translation. 



ANGLO-SAXON DJEG-M^L. 27 

4. Blichling Homilies (c. 971), Morris, p. 47 : "iErest on 
serne niorgen, o]?re stye on undern, J>ridde si]^e on midne dseg, 
feorj^an si]?e on non, fiftan stye on sefen, sixtan stye on niht 
ser he rseste, seofttyan stye on uhtan." 

5. Concordia Regularis {Constitutions of JEthelwold) — no 
collected account : — " Matutiha " ("iEftersang," " Dsegred- 
sang"), "Prim," "Undern/' " Middseg," "Non," "Vespe- 
runi" ("-ZEfen"), and " Completorium " (Logeman, 1. 413, 
" on ytemystre tide riht gesetre "). 

6. Canons of ^Elfric, 19, Thorpe, A. L., p. 444 : " Uhtsang 
and primsang, undernsang and rniddsegsang, nonsang and 
sefensang and nihtsang seofttyan." 

7. ^Elfric's Pastoral Letter, 31, Thorpe, A. L., p. 457 : " Se 
forma tidsang is uhtsang mid ]?am seftersang J?e J>arto gebyra^S, 
primsang, undernsang, middsegsang, nonsang, sefensang, niht- 
sang." 

For general notices of the Canonical Hours in the Anglo- 
Saxon Laws, compare Bouterwek, Cazdmon, clxxix sq. 

It is necessary to supplement the above list by a few cita- 
tions, showing that the Hours are rather services than divisions 
of time : 

Schroer, Benedictine Rule, 7, 28 ; 33, 1 ; xvin, 43, 11 ; 44, 
17; xxx, 55, 18: " on gedafenum tiduni" ("horis compe- 
tentibus"); xxxvii, 61, 16-17, "mid heora j^ygene forhradian 
]?a regolican tida" ("horas canonicas"); xliii, 67, 17, "to 
tidsange," Winteney Vers., " to Godes )?enunge," Latin, "Ad 
opus Dei." 

iElfric, Homilies, Thorpe, n, 160, 19 : "Sum munuc wees 
unstse"S3ig on Godes lofsangum, and ne mihte his tidsangas 
gestandan mid his gebroftrum." 

Wulfstan, Homilies, xxxv (30), p. 171, 14: "Mt seleum 
tidsange; lvi (42), p. 290, 17, "and Jm ahst to fyllene J?ine 
seofon tidsangas under (German, "unter") dseg and niht, ]>eet 
is, to selcan tidsange seofon pf nf . . . . and J?e fte his dseg- 
sang cunne, singe J?one, swa he oftost msege, and his credan 
ilome, etc." 



28 FREDERICK TUPPER, JR. 



Previous Treatment of the Canonical Hours. 

I shall review, as briefly as possible, previous discussions 
of the Anglo-Saxon Hours. 

Spelman, Concilia, (1639), 577, 19, gives Latin equivalents 
of the Saxon names of the hours ; his translation of " Uht- 
sang" by "Cantus antelucanus" is interesting. The Benedic- 
tine Service was printed in an Appendix to Hiekes' Letters to 
a Popish Priest (1705), and received numerous explanatory 
notes from the hands of William Elstob. . His definitions of 
the Hours are suggestive, but not always correct : 

(1). On serne morgen — Early in the morning at break of 
day or the first hour (Prime) ; (2). Underntid — 3rd Hour — 
Verstegan's " afternoon " translation {Restitution of Decayed 
Intelligence, p. 234) is disproved ; (3). Middseg — Midday ; (4). 
Non — Hora nona (3 p. m.); (5). iEfen — Even (12th hour), 
so-called because it even'd the civil day; (6). Foranniht — 
probably 9 p. m. ; (7). Uhtan — Midnight (so-called because 
the twenty-four hours were run out). 

Elizabeth Elstob, Homily on the Birthday of St. Gregory 
(1709), p. 40, quotes from the Psalter of St. Augustine (see 
M. P. L., Xxxvn) the hymns for the different Hours. The 
Editor of Sir John Fortescue's work, The Difference between 
an Absolute and a Limited Monarchy (1714), p. 143, note, 
places Uhtsang at 3 a. m., iEfensang at 9 p. m., and Nihtsang 
at Midnight. Johnson's Canons of the English Church 
appeared in 1720; the following is his Cursus : Uhtsang — 
Mattins or Nocturns ; Prime Song — 7 o'clock ; Undernsong — 
9 o'clock; Middaysong — 12 o'clock; Noonsong — 3 o'clock; 
Evensong — 6 o'clock ; Compline — 9 o'clock. Baron's Notes 
to his Edition of Johnson (1850) will be considered presently. 

Waterland, in his MS. Notes to Somner's Dictionary, availed 
himself of Johnson, but his lists of the Hours were drawn 
from the " Blickling MS.," ^Elfric's Canons, Wycliffe, Hugues, 
De Ecclesiae Mysteriis (12th Cent., M. P. X., clxxvii), Psalter 



ANGLO-SAXON D^EG-M^L. 29 

of Gregory the Great (cf. Wanley, Catalogue, p. 172), etc. 
Peck's division of the Roman day and night {Desiderata 
Curiosa, 1779, Vol. I, 224) is at once so interesting and so 
minute, that — although it is not in every case applicable to 
Anglo-Saxon times — I shall follow it in detail : 

" Prima Vigilia — 1st Hour = Solis Occasus ; 2nd Hour = 
Crepusculum Vespertinum or Evening twilight; 3rd Hour = 
'Oi/re; Service = Evensong. 

" Secunda Vigilia — 1st Part = Prima fax = Candle light ; 
2nd Part = Prima Nox; 3rd Part = Concubi urn or Bed-time; 
4th Part = Somnus Tempestivus ; 5th Part = Ad Mediam 
Noctem ; Service — Officium Completorium. 

"Tertia Vigilia— 1st Part = Media Nox ; 2nd Part = De 
Media Nocte; 3rd Part = Gallicinium = 2 a. m.; 4th Part = 
Conticinium (Cock now silent) ; Service — Officium Matuti- 
num Vesperum. 

" Quarta Vigilia — 1st Part = Hpcos, Diluculum or Dawn ; 
2nd Part = Crepusculum Matutinum ; 3rd Part ='H&)? or 
Aurora — Morning light; 4th Part = Exortus Solis (6 a. m.); 
Service — Officium Horae Matutinae or Matins. 

" Hours of the Day — Mane Plenum (6-9) — Service = 
Primesong ; Tempns Antemeridianum = Forenoon (Under- 
noon is discussed ; see infra) ; Service == Terce ; Meridies 
(12-3)— 1st Part = Medius Dies; 2nd Part = De Meridie; 
Service = Officium Horae Sextae; Tempus Postmeridianum = 
Overnoon ; Service = Officium Horae Nonae." 

Hampson, M. A. Kalendarium, Glossary, s. v. " Hours," 
has given many useful references to the Canonical Services. 
Fosbroke's division of the Concordia services (Bjitish Monach- 
ism, p. 28 sq.) is as follows : (1). Unthsaug (sic) embraces 
Mattins and Lauds — Midnight to Primsang (6 a. m., Prime). 
(2). Duties from Primsang to Undersang (Tierce, about 9 a. 
m.). (3). Undersang to Middsegsang (Sext, about 12). (4). 
From Middsegsang to Nonsang (Nones, about 2 or 3 p. m.). 
(5). From Nonsang to iEfensang (Vespers, Lucernarium, 
about 4 p. m.). (6). From iEfensang to Nihtsang (Complin, 



30 FREDERICK TTJPPER, JR. 

2nd Vespers, 7 p. m.). Baron, in his excellent note to the 
19th Canon ofiElfric (1850 Edition of Johnson's Collection of 
Laws and Canons, i, p. 393), defines the Equinoctial Hours 
thus : Uhtsang (Midnight) ; Lofsang =iEftersang or Dsegred- 
lice Lofsangas (2-3 a. m.) ; Primsang (6-7 a. m.); Undern- 
sang = Tertia (8-9 a. m.) ; Middaegsang = Sexta (11-12 a. 
ra.) ; Nonsang (2-3 p. m.) ; iEfensang (6-7 p. m.) ; Comple- 
torium (8-9 p. m). 

With Baron's divisions, my own, 1 in the main, correspond : 
Uhtsang, Lofsang and iEftersang, 2-6 a. m. ; Prime, 6 a.m.; 
Undern, 8-9 a. m. ; Middseg, 11-12 a. m. ; Non, 2-3 p. m. ; 
.ZEfen, 4-5 p. m. ; Completorium, 6 p. m. 

My Horology table shows, however, that Undern and None, 
being equally distant from 12 o'clock, were counted usually at 
9 a. m. and 3 p. m. As JEfen is the 11th Hour, I have placed 
it from 4-5 p. m., and Completorium, the 12th hour at 6 p. 
m., but the services of these periods were doubtless later, 
probably at the time indicated by Baron. Durand, Rationale, 
V, 2, p. 138, tells us that "under Prime two hours were 
reckoned, the first and second (6-8 a. m.); under Terce, three 
(8-11 a. m.) ; under Sext or Midday, three, the sixth, seventh 
and eighth (11 a. m.-2 p. m.) ; under None, two (2 p. m.-4 
p. m.); Vespers occupy the 11th (4-5 p. m.), and Comple- 
torium, the 12th (5-6 p. m.). But Durand is defining the 
so-called Canonical Spaces, — to be distinguished from the 
several hours. Compare Canonical Hours, Horstman's Lives 
of the Saints, E. E. T. Soc, 87, xxxvi, p. 225, 1. 217 sq. ; 
"York Hours of the Cross," E. E. T. S., 71 (1879), p. 82; 
Lay Folks Prayer Book, E. E. T. S., 105 (1895) ; Minor 
Poems of Vernon MS., E. E. T. $., 94 (1892), p. 37. 

At this point some reference to Canonical Hours on the 
Continent is necessary. The "Gebet and Tischreden" in 
Wackernagel's Altdeutsehe Predigten und Gebete, 1876, are 
from Basel MS., B. xr, 23, of 14th Century (p. 561 sq.) : 

1 Let it be remembered that these are Equinoctial divisions and will vary 
with the seasons (cf. Horology, supra). 



ANGLO-SAXON D^EG-M^EL. 31 

Rubrics, p. 561, " Zu metten zeit als unser herre gevangen 
wart;" p. 562, 1. 50, "Zu prime zit alz unser herre von gerihtes 
stunte ; " p. 563, 1. 90, " Zu tercie zit als unser herre mit ruten 
und mit geuscheln geschlagen wart ; " p. 565, 1. 140, "Zu sexte 
zit als unser herre sin cruze zu der marter trfig ; " p. 566, 1. 
205, " Zu none zit alz unser herre stunt an dem cruze ; " p. 
566, 1. 244, " Zu nonzit starb Jesus an dem crutz ; " p. 568, 1. 
273, " Zu vesperzit als unser herre aber dem cruzte genomen 
wart;" p. 570, 1. 364, "Zu completenzit als unser herre in dz 
grap geleit wart." The Oxforder Benediktinerregel, Sievers, 
Halle, 1887 (Abdruck aus dem Tubinger Decanals programn), 1 
contains numerous examples of the German names of the 
Hours. 

The French "Heures Canoniales" will be cited from time 
to time in connection with the several Hours. 

Number and Symbolism of the Canonical Hours. 

In the Roman Breviary, published by Pius V (1566), and 
revised by Clement VIII (1592) and Urban VIII (1623) 
(Marquis of Bute, 1879), the division of the ecclesiastical day 
is as follows (p. 235 sq.) : Mattins (subdivided into 1st, 2nd 
and 3rd ISTocturns), Lauds, Prime, Tierce, Sext, None, Vespers 
and Compline. It will be noticed that this gives eight divisions 
instead of seven, and that Mattins and Lauds are two distinct 
tides. Upon the relation of Mattins (Uhtsang) and Lauds 
(Dsegredsang) will rest much of the discussion to follow. 

That the Canonical Hours should be seven in number 
seemed to early churchmen attested by the scriptures (Hickes, 
Letters to a Popish Priest, Appendix) : David had said 
(Psalms, 119, 164): "Seven times a day do I praise Thee 
because of Thy righteous judgments." The gifts of the Holy 
Ghost were seven in number (Luke, xi, 26 ; Matt., xn, 45). 

1 This version, Cod, Laud Misc., 237, Bodleian, is, like the " Winteney," 
a feminine one, traced by Sievers, p. ix, to the Eberbach circle of Nunneries, 
and bears the stamp of the 14th Century speech of South and Middle Nassau. 



32 FREDERICK TUPPER, JR. 

A just man falleth seven times a day and riseth again 
(Proverbs, xxiv, 16). There were seven deadly sins (Prov- 
erbs, xxvi, 25), seven trumpets of Jericho (Joshua, vi), seven 
stars, seven churches, and seven golden candlesticks (Revela- 
tions, i). Each of these all-convincing arguments from 
example would be cited by ritualist or homilist. 

The reason for eight hours is given by Durand, Rationale, 
v, 1, p. 137 : " Esdras divided day into 1st, 3rd, 6th and 9th 
Hours, night into vespers, completorium, nocturns and dilu- 
culum (laudes rnatutinae)." The prompt observance of the 
Lauds at dawn, demanded by the Benedictine Rule (xvi), was 
in Durand's day complied with only by those who were 
blinded by a halo of apocryphal glory (compare Durand, v ; 
4, 1, p. 152). 

Let us now consider the changes in the " septenarius sacra- 
tus numerus " occasioned by an imperfect conception of the 
relation between the midnight confessional and the morning 
Lauds. Gregory of Tours (540-594), Historia Franeorum, 
vin, par. 387, M. P. L., 71, p. 459: " Expergefactus vero 
circa medium noctis cum ad cursum reddendum surgerem." 
"Ad cursum reddendum " cannot be taken strictly as placing 
Midnight among the Canonical Hours, for Gregory, a reliable 
authority on account of his work, Be Cursibus Ecelesiastis, 
gives in his Vitae Patrum, par 1187, M. P. X., 71, p. 1043, 
an assured place to Matins. Chrodegang, M. P. P., 88, 1066, 
couples Matins with Diluculum and makes no mention of the 
Midnight Vigil. 

The Benedictine Rule (vin, XI, xvi) does not include Uht- 
sang or Vigils among the Canonical Hours, and therefore does 
not appear to observe with it the same strictness as with the. 
others. It could be shortened to insure a prompt beginning 
of the Matins at day-break ; and, in order that the monks 
might not be deprived of their meed of sleep, they were not 
compelled to rise promptly at Midnight (" ut modice amplius 
de media nocte pausentur "). ^Eftersang or Dsegredsang 
(Matutini) is, however, always a distinct Canonical Hour in 



ANGLO-SAXON D^G-M^L. 33 

the Rule ; a collection of examples from both the Translation 
(Schroer, Bibliothek der A. S. Prosa, n) and the Gloss (Loge- 
man, E. E. T. Soc, 90) will show plainly the relation it bore 
to Uhtsang : 

(Translation). 

Uhta— ix, p. 33, 1. 7, uhtsang (" Winteney," 43, 19, utsang) j 
Vin, 32, 47, sefter j;am uhtsange (post vigilias) ; vin, 32, 20, 
se serest ]?ses uhtsanges ("Winteney/' 43, 12, |?ses uhtsanges 
time) = hora vigiliarum ; vnr, 32, 21, betwyh ]?8ern uhtsange 
and ];8ern dsegredsange — no lemma; ix, 33, 17, set J>a3m uht- 
sange (" Winteney," 45, 3, a3fter j?an uhtsangan) = in vigiliis; 
ix, 34, 3, se nihtlica uhtsang == vigilie nocturne ; x, 34, 5 
(Rubric), Hu on Sumere seo nihtlice tid to healdenne sy 
(" Winteney," 45, 13, hu me sceall singe uhtsang on Sumer- 
liche time) = Nocturna laus, etc., etc. 

Dsegred — vin, p. 32, 1. 21, and J?sem dsegredsange — no 
lemma; vin, 33, 1, dsegredsange == matutini ; xi, 35, 23, 
dsegeredsang = matutinos ; xi, 36, 10, dsegredsanges = matu- 
tinorum solemnitas ; xin, 37, 5, dgegredsanges weor^Sung = 
matutinorum solempnitas, etc., etc. 

(Gloss). 

Uhta — vin, p. 37, 1. 8, setter uhtsange = post vigilias ; 
Vin, 37, 12, tid uhtsanga = hora vigiliarum; ix, 38, 15, aet 
uhtsangum = in vigiliis; ix, 39, 8, nihtlice uhtsangas = vigi- 
lie nocturne ; x, 40, 3, to nihtlicum uhtsangum = ad vigilias 
nocturnas. Compare xi, 40, 8 ; XV, 45, 14 ; xvi, 46, 9 ; 
xvn, 47, 1 ; xviii, 49, 7 ; xviii, 51, 7. 

^Eftersang — vin, 37, 14, merigenlice lofsang = matutini ; 
xi, 41, 15, mergenlice lof= matutinos; xn, 42, 9, on mer- 
genlicum lofsangum — in matutinis ; xiii, 43, 1, seftersanga 
= matutinorum ; xvn, 47, 1, meriendlice lofsangas sefter- 
sanges = matutinis. Compare xiii, 44, 6; xv, 46, 5; xxxv, 
66 y 13. 

With the above must be compared the glossed text of the 
Concordia Regularis (Anglia, xiii), whose author .ZEthelwold 
3 



34 FREDERICK TUPPER, JR. 

was the translator of the Benedictine Rule [Modern Language 
Notes, June, 1893) : 

Concordia, 1. 220, 449, 523, 933, Uhtsang = nocturna ; 
1014, uhtsanglic = nocturnus ; 1. 449, 450, 528, 663, 904, 
944, 974, seftersang = matutina ; 476, seftersingallice = matu- 
tinales; 243, to uhtlicum lofsangum = ad matutinales laudes; 
388, 689, 870, dsegredsang = matutinus ; 507, dsegredlice 
lofu. 

In the other Anglo-Saxon lists of Canonical Hours, we 
have quite a different arrangement. In the Benedictine Service 
(Bouterwek's Cosdmon, I, clxxi) and the BlicMing Homilies, 
Uhtsang is one of the Hours (cf. the "nocturnalis synaxis" of 
Ecgbert), but Dsegredsang or JEftersang has become a part 
of the iEr-morgen service. In the Canons and Pastoral Letter 
of .ZElfric, Dsegredsang is united with Uhtsang as the "iEfter- 
sang ]>e f>arto gebyraS." In the last case, which is by far the 
more natural change (compare Bede's Ecclesiastical History, 
IV, vni, Miller's Ed., p. 284, 1. 9), Uhtsang assumes the 
meaning of Matins. In either case Uhtsang has risen to 
the dignity of a Canonical Hour, a position that it never held 
in the Benedictine Rule. 

The order of services in the Concordia is as follows : " Three 
orations, followed by Nocturns, to which were added its Lauds ; 
then the Matutinales Laudes were sung in the time between 
dawn and sunrise (in lucis crepusculo), Prime beginning with 
the light of day." Nothing, however, is said of an " early 
morning service," including Dsegred and Prime (Fosbroke, 
British Monachism, p. 29). The Concordia is closely followed 
by the monks mentioned in the glossed Colloquy of iElfric 
(Wright- Wulker, Vocabularies, i, 101) : " Manega ]>mgc ic 
dyde. on Jnsse niht J?a J>a cnylle ic gehyrde ic aras on minon 
bedde and eode to cyrcean and sang uhtsang (nocturnam) mid 
gebro]?rurn sefter ]?a we sungon be eallum halgum and dsegredlice 
lofsangas (matutinales laudes) sefter ]?ysum prim, etc." 

The order of services in all cases remained the same ; the 
difference between them was only one of name. 



ANGLO-SAXON D^EG-M^L. 35 

To sum up, I have shown that Uhtsang or Nocturns, 
formerly only Vigils, became a separate Canonical Hour in 
the Anglo-Saxon Church, and that, although Uhta might 
include Nocturns and Dsegredsang, or iEr-morgen include 
Daegredsang and Prime, the strict number of Hours never 
exceeded seven. 

The Hours of the Canons were fraught with symbolism to 
the mediaeval monk. Not only was a special significance given 
to each period by some circumstance in the Saviour's passion, 
but the stages of the world and the periods of human life were 
represented by the Hours. 

iElfric, Homilies, II, 74, translating from Gregory's 19th 
Homily, M. P. X., 76, 1154 (Forster, " Ueber die Quellen 
von iElfrics Exegetischen Homiliae Catholicae," § 43, Anglia, 
xvi, 3), tells us, in connection with the Parable of the Vine- 
yard : " Eornostlice se ser-merigen waes fram Adam oft Noe, 
se undern fram Noe oft Abraham, se middaeg fram Abraham 
oft Moysen, se non fram Moyse oft Drihtnes to-cyme, seo 
endlyfte tid fram Drihtnes acennednysse oft ende J?ises mid- 
daneardes." Compare Durand, Rationale, v, 1, p. 137. 

iElfric continues (ii, 76) : " We magon eac ftas ylcan mis- 
licnyssa ftaera foresaedra tida to anum gehwylcum menu J>urh 
his ylda tidum todaelan. Witodlice ures andgites merigen is 
ure cildhad, ure cnihthad swylce undern-tid, on ]?am astihft 
ure geogoft, swa swa seo sunne deft ymbe ftaere ftriddan 
tide ; ure fulfremeda waestm swa swa middaBg, forftan fte on 
midne daBg bift seo sunne on ftam ufemestum ryne stigende 
swa swa se fulfremeda waestm bift on fulre strencfte }?eonde. 
Seo non-tid bift ure yld forftan fte on nontid asihft seo sunne, 
and ftses ealdigendan mannes maBgen bift wanigende. Seo 
endlyfte tid bift seo forwerode ealdnyss J>am deafte genealse- 
cende, swa swa seo sunne setlunge genealsehft on J?83S daeges 
geenduuge." 

This interpretation of the Parable is repeated in Kentish 
Sermons (Laud MS. 471), "Dominica in Sexagesima," 0. & 
Miscellany (E. E. T. S., 50, p. 34). Durand, Rationale^, 1, 



36 FEEDERICK TUPPER, JR. 

137, institutes the same comparison : (1). Infantia = Matutinae 
Laudes. (2). Pueritia = Prima. (3). Adolescentia = Tertia. 
(4). Juventus = Sexta. (5). Senectus = Nona. (6). Seni- 
um = Vesperae. (7). Decrepita Aetas = Completorium. 

Each Canonical division will now be considered in turn, 
and the introductory discussion supplemented by matter more 
appropriate to the consideration of the several hours than to a 
general view of the whole. 

Uhta. 

The etymology of the word Uhta, given by Elstob (Appen- 
dix to Hickes' Letters to a Popish Priest), is ingenious enough 
to deserve notice: "Gothic uhtwo and Runic otta (Norse) 
convince us that Uhta derived its name from the fact that the 
four and twenty hours were run out and the civil day was 
compleat." Elstob suggests also a connection with " uhtelun 
(sic), timebant, Mark, xi, 32, uht-tid being the dread time 
of night and full of horror." Grimm, Teutonic Mythology, 
Stalleybras, II, 747, regards the root as unexplained. Later 
scholars seem well-agreed over its history : Uhta, dawn ; Old 
Norse, 6tta; O. H. G., uhta; Gothic, uhtwo; uhteigs < Ger- 
manic type, un^twon << Idg. base, nqtun > Sanskrit, aktu 
(brilliance) ; Greek, aicrt? (beam) (Fick, Worterbuch der Indo- 
germanischen Sprache, 1876, VII, 9, V, 297 ; Kluge, Nominate 
Stammbildung, p. 140). 1 

Grimm (loc. cit.) gives the time of Uhta : " The very first 
glimmer of dawn, or strictly speaking, that which precedes it, 
the latter end of night, is expressed by the Gothic uhtwo 
(Greek, evvv^pv), Mark, I, 35. " The Vulgate reads here 
" mane noctu valde," and the Anglo-Saxon versions, " swij?e 
ser." Spelman's translation of Uhtsang, " Antelucanus " 
(Concilia, 577) is correct, and true of all Saxon observance. 

1 George Hempl, Modern Language Notes, November, 1891, derived N. H. 
G. nuchtern from ne-uoht-nar-in, the third element appearing in N. H. G. 
nahren. The use mentioned by Fick (loc. cit.) in M. H. G. supports this 
view (cf. Lexer, Mittelhochdeutsches Worterbuch, 1876, s. v. "Uht-weide"). 



ANGLO-SAXON D^G-M2EL. 37 

JElfric's Vocabulary, Wright- Wiilker, 129, 32, gives— like 
JElfric's Canons and Pastoral Letter — Matutinuni as the Latin 
equivalent of Uhtgebed (cf. Wright- Wiilker, 175, 40). 

It is difficult to define closely the position of Uhta. In 
ecclesiastical usage, it varied at different seasons of the year 
(Benedictine Rule, Chap, vin) ; but it meant doubtless, to 
churchman and layman, the darkest portion of the night, 
the hour before the dawn (Wright- Wiilker, Vocabularies, 450, 
3, Matutinum == Uht-tid sive beforan dsege; Beowulf, 126, 
Andreas, 235, 1390, Elene, 105, on uhtan mid serdsege; 
Satan, 404-406, 465, on uhtan ser dsegrede), the time asso- 
ciated in Anglo-Saxon poetry with "eald uhtscea];a" (Beowulf, 
2271) and " ealdes uhtflogan " (Beowulf, 2760). 

One meaning that Uhta could never assume has been 
ascribed to it by Thorpe and Bouterwek. In iElfric's 
" Homily on the Assumption of St. John, the Apostle," 
Thorpe, I, 74, we are told that the Apostle " on Sunnan-uhtan 
serwacol (Thorpe, 'at sunrise, early rising ; ) to J^sere cyrcan 
com and j?am folce from hancred 0"S undern Godes gerihta 
Iserde and him maessan gesang." iElfric uses the expression, 
" sunnan-uhtan " again in his Pastoral Letter, 44 : "And ge 
sculon singan sunnan-uhtan and msesse-uhtan, etc." Wilkins, 
Leges Anglo- Saxonicae (1721), p. 161, renders this, "ad solis 
ortum et missae initium." Thorpe, A. L., 461, translates: 
"And ye should sing sunrise matins and mass matins." Bou- 
terwek's rendering (Ccedmon, clxxxii) is similar : "Und ihr 
sollt singen die Metten bei Sonnenaufgang und die Frlih- 
messe." 

There are many reasons why Sunnan-uhtan should not be 
rendered "sunrise." (1). Uhtsang must end at dawn, and the 
period, Uhta, always precedes the light. (2). The context in 
the Homily passage shows that Sunnan-uhtan can mean only 
Sunday morning before day (notice that the period precedes 
Hancred). Sweet, Anglo-Saxon Header, 14a/299, Gloss, 283, 
and Bright, Anglo-Saxon Reader, p. 213, Note to p. 84, 10-11, 
give the proper meaning. (3). John's action was so common 



38 FREDERICK TUPPER, JR. 

among holy men that there can be little doubt of the time of 
these devotions. Bede tells us, Ecclesiastical History, in, x, 
Miller, p. 188, 7 : "Ssegdon J?sette }>a men ]?a hit cuSon J>set 
he oftost fram |?sere tide J?ses uhtlican lofsonges eft hluttorne 
dseg in gebedum astode awunade ." Id., rv, xxi, 318, 22 : 
" Symle gif hire hefigre untrymnesse ne bewere of ]?8ere tide 
uhtsanges o$ hluttorne daeg in cirican in halgum gebedum 
stod." Compare .ZElfric's Lives of the Saints, Skeat, xv, 95, 
Bright's Reader, 101, 13. (4) The use of "sunnandagum and 
msessedagum " (JSlickling Homilies, 47) makes clear the mean- 
ing of " Sunnan-uhtan and Maesse-uhtan ; " and a passage 
from Wulfstan's Homilies (Napier, lviii, p. 305, 1. 21) is 
conclusive : " Nagan lsewede men J;urh hsemed J>inge gif hi 
Godes miltse habban willa}> wifes gemanan sunnan-nihtum ne 
maesse-nihtum ne wodnes-nihtum ne frige-nihtum." Anglo- 
Saxon Chronicle, D. 1021, " Cristes maesse-uhtan " can mean 
only, "on Christmas before day." Thus the expressions 
" Sunnan-uhtan and Maesse-uhtan " are to be translated, " at 
Uhta on Sunday and Mass-days." 1 

A very peculiar use of the word is found in the Leechdoms, 
II, 346 : " On gang J>e aweg, gang eft to ]?onne dseg and niht 
furjmm scade, on j?am ilean uhte gang serest to ciricean." It 
should be noted that this striking expression, "J;onne dseg 
and niht scade" (cf. Leechdoms, n, 116, 18; n, 356, 6), has 
a classical origin ; compare Durham Ritual, p. 36, 9 : " Deus 
qui diem discernis a nocte" (Gloss: "God'Sv — gesceadas fram 
nsehte"); Ibid., p. 182: "Qui separasti lucem a tenebris" 
(Gloss : " $v 3. gesceadest liht fram ftiostrum "). 

"iEr uhton " (Leechdoms, in, 20), rendered wrongly by 
Cockayne, "before sunrise," is equivalent to the Gothic "air 
uhtwon " (Mark, I, 35), and has the same meaning as " foran 
to uhtes" (Cockayne, Narratiunculae, p. 15). 

A few other instances of the word's occurrence may be cited : 
On the 24th Moon " on uhtan god mona blod lsetan " (Leech- 

x The times of mass are given in MS. Caligula, A. 15, fol. 140b, A. 
Napier, "Altenglische Kleinigkeiten," Anglia, xi, 7. 



ANGLO-SAXON D^G-M^L. 39 

doms, in, 196, 4) ; "On uhtatide" (Bede's Ecclesiastical His- 
tory, Capit. 4, xiv, Miller, 18, 33), and "In uhttide se steorra 
aetywde se is cometa nemned " (Ibid., iv, xvi, Miller, 300, 1); 
Martyr Book, May 9 (Shrine, 83), J>onne ganga$ ]>a seofon 
steorras on uhtan upp and on aefen on setle. 

Uhta in Middle English. 

Uhta did not live long in the language, and, unlike many 
of the other Canonical Hours, it preserved to the last its 
original meaning. A few of the Bradley-Stratmann examples 
will show this : Orm is describing the vision of Joseph the 
Carpenter (1. 2483) : 

"And Godes engell comm him to 
Onn uhtenn J?8er he sleppte." 

And again (Ibid., 5381) : 

" His Crist ras upp off deej>e 
Onn uhtenntid to >ridde dseg." 

In Ancren Riwle, Morton, p. 20, Uhtsang 1 has the meaning 
of Nocturns. 

Hancred. 

In the Apostolic Constitutions, vin, 34, Cockcrowing is 
mentioned as one of the regular Hours of Prayer : "At Cock- 
crowing, because that hour brings the good news of the 
coming on of the day for the operations proper to light." 
In Anglo-Saxon days, it was still a time of devotion : Byrht- 
fer$, Handboc, 124, Anglia, vin, 319 : " Gallicinium J?8et ys 
Hancred J?on sceolon gode munecas arisan and gode singan ; " 
Life of St. Guthlac, by Felix of Croyland, Chap. VI, Goodwin, 
p. 42 : " Da gelamp hit sumre nihte J?a hit wses hancred and 

1 It is possible that Oughtred (pr. 6t / -red), the name of an English divine, 
1574-1660 (Encyclopedia Britannica, s. v.), may be derived from Uht-red 
(cf. Daeg-red) ; but the non-occurrence in literary English of the demanded 
form, and the changed meaning of Uhta make one hesitate. 



40 FREDERICK TUPPER, JR, 

se eadiga wer, Guftlac, his uhtgebedum befeal, J?a wses he 
ssemninga mid leohte slsepe swefed ; " Reden der Seelen, 1. 66, 
Grein, i, p. 201 : 

" Sceal ic ]>e nihtes swa J?eah nede gesecan 
Synnum gesargod and eft sona fram ]?e 
Hweorfan on hancred J?onne halige men 
Lifiendum gode lofsang do3." 

The common meaning of Hancred is shown clearly in the 
iElfredian version of the Cura Pastoralis, Chap, lxxiii, Sweet, 
p. 458 : " Bses cocces fteaw is $set he micle hludor sing-S on 
uhtan ftonne on dsegred. Ac $onne hit nealseeS dsege 'Sonne 
sing^S he smalor and smicror." Compare with this Gregory's 
Latin, xxxix, M. P. L., 77, 124. 

Hancred usually indicates Gallicinium. " On Hancrede " 
translates the Vulgate "Galli Cantu" (Mark, xm, 35) j 1 and 
the word appears, Leechdoms, in, 266, in a connection that 
leaves but little doubt of its meaning : " Gif he (mona) }?onne 
sefter sunnan setlunge ontend byS, o\>]>e on middere niht, o]?]?e 
on hancrede, ne by^S he nsefre niwe geteald." Compare Bede's 
Ecclesiastical History, iv, xxiv, Miller, 338, 24, ymb honcred ; 
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, D., Anno 795, betwux hancraede and 
dagunge; iElfric's Homilies, n, 334, 30, betwux hancrede; 
ii, 334, 35, ealle fta niht o3 hancred. The passage, Leech- 
doms, in, 6, presents a difficulty : 

"And J?onne oniht ];onne sumor on tun gay§ on mergen 
];onne sceal se man wacyan ealle ];a niht J?e j?one drenc drin- 
can wille and ]?onne coccas crawan forman sySe ]?onne drince 
he sene, oJ?re srSe j?onne da3g and niht scade, }>riddan sr<5e }?onne 
sunne upga and reste hine syj?)?an." 

Cockayne takes " forman sy|>e " with " crawan ; " but the 
meaning of "first cockcrow" (infra) and coordination in 
the above passage show that the adverbial phrase qualifies 
" drince." 

Hancred, however, was not only in the morning before 
day. In the " Glosses " of Mone's Quellen und Forschungen, 

1 Here the Lindisfarne MS. reads : " On uhte tide and on honcroed." 



ANGLO-SAXON D^G-M^L. 41 

B. 4677, Galli-Cantu is glossed by " cwyld-setene," which is 
elsewhere the gloss of Conticiniam {infra, s. v.); and in the 
Vocabulary of JElfric, Wright- Wiilker, 175, 36, Hancred 
translates Gallicinium vel Conticinium, the last named being 
defined as the third division of the night (Beda, 2 and Byrht- 
ferS ; see supra). Now it is possible to regard Conticinium 
as occupying also a place in the early morning — the case, 
sometimes, in antiquity (Lalamantius, " De Tempore," Thes. 
Graeo. Ant., 1049) ; but it is more natural to suppose that it 
retained its early-night position (" cwyld-setene " could never 
have referred to a morning hour), and was the first of the 
three cock-crows mentioned, Leechdoms, n, 294, 5. 1 Conti- 
cinium is doubtless the hour referred to in the Historical 
Fragment, MS. Cott. Caligula A., xiv, Leechdoms, in, 424, 
where a miracle "embe forman hancred " is described. Symeon 
of Durham, who tells the same story (Arnold, Bolls Series, II, 
8), puts the time at " intempesta noctis quiete," the dead of 
night. 

Later cock-crows are helpful here. Chaucer tells us the 
time of the third cock-crow (Reeve's Tale, A. 4233) : 

" Till that the thridde cok began to singe 
Aleyn wax wery in the dawenynge." 

Shakspere mentions a first cock-crow (Mid. Ws Dream, n, 1, 
267; 1 Henry iv, n, 1, 20; Lear, in, iv, 121), probably at 
Midnight, a second cock-crow at 3 o'clock (Romeo and Juliet, 
IV, 4, 3 ; Macbeth, n, 3, 22 — Note in Variorum Ed.), and a 
morning cock-crow (Hamlet, I, 2, 218). Shakspere's cocks 
had been drilled in Tusser's barnyard — Five Hundred Pointes 

1 In Matt., xiv, 25, where " embe >one feor>an hancred " renders " Quarta 
vigilia," the cock is supposed by the translator to crow at every watch ; cf. 
0. E. Homilies, 2nd Ser., vi, Morris, E. E. T. Soc., 53, 39 : " On >is niht 
be^ feower niht wecches. Biforen even J>e belimpe'S to children. Midniht 
... to frumberdlegges, hanecrau . . . >owuene men, morgewile to aide men." 

Compare Theocritus, Idyl., xxiv, Lang's Translation, 1892, p. 128, "The 
cocks were now but singing their third welcome to the earliest dawn." 



42 FREDERICK TUPPER, JR. 

of Good Husbandrie, 74, Eng. Dialect Society, 21 (1878), p. 
165 (cf. Hazlitt's Ed. of Brand's Popular Antiquities, n, 34). 

"At midnight, at three, and an hour near day 
They utter their language as well as they may." 

Compare Hazlitt, 1. c, for other examples. 1 

The Anglo-Saxon Hancred may be properly regarded as 
the last portion of Uhta, and be placed roughly at about an 
hour before Dsegred or Dawn. 

On JErne Morgen. 
I. Dcegred. 
II. Prime. 

iEr-morgen may be regarded as extending from Dawn to 
Undern (Mid-morning). I have, therefore, included under it 
the two Canonical divisions of Dsegred and Prime. A number 
of examples of the rather generic term, iEr-morgen, are given : 

Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, A . 538, A., fram ser-mergenne o$ 
undern (B. morgenne, C. E. morgene, F. seran morgen) ; A . 
678, E. selce morgen = F. 677, on seme morgen. 

Bede, Ecclesiastical History, I, xvni (34), Miller, 92, 3, on 
sermergen he ite3 hlo^e and on sefenne hereof dgelaft ; n, xi 
(14), 140, 12, from sermorgenne o$ aefen (Giles, 236, 10, a 
mane usque ad vesperam) ; v, VI (6), 402, 11, sona in aer- 
morgen (Giles, 176, 26, mane); v, ix (9), 410, 6, on sermorgen 
(Giles, 188, 14, mane). Notice the translator's preference for 
the compound form found in the Psalter and in a iElfred's 
Metres" (Bosworth-Toller, s. v.). 

1 "De fust rooster-crow" of the Southern Negro (T. Nelson Page, In Ole 
Virginia, p. 84) falls, I am informed by a colored authority on the fowl- 
house, u at midnight," "de secon' " at "fo' day," "de third" at ''come day." 

The three Spanish cock-crows fall at midnight, day-break and sunset (H. 
Lang, "The Fowl in Spanish Proverb and Metaphor," Mod. Lang. Notes, 
May, 1887). 



ANGLO-SAXON D^G-M^L. 43 

Anglo-Saxon Gospels, Matt., xx, 1, on serne merigen (cum 
diluculo) ; Mark, xvi, 9, on serne morgen (mane); John, xxi, 
4, on serne mergen (mane autem jam facto). 

Old Testament, (Grein's Biblioihek der A.-S. Prosa, i), Gen., 
xix, 15, 27, Deut., xxviii, 67, on seme mergen (mane) ; 
Gen., xxi, 1 4, on serne morgen sona (mane) ; Ex., XII, 22, ser 
on morgen (usque mane) ; Numbers, xvii, 7, on serne mergen 
(sequenti die) ; Joshua, viii, 10, on serne mergen (diluculo) ; 
Job, I (l 5 ), on serne marigen (diluculo). 

iElfric's Homilies, I, 286, 32, Swa hra-Se swa heo (seo sunne) 
upasprencS on serne-merigen heo scinft on Hierusalem ; n, 72, 
17; 74, 7; 126, 12; 138, 18; 348, 19; 446, 16, on serne- 
merigen; ii, 74, 17, se ser-merigen. iElfric's Lives of the 
Saints (Skeat), in, 341, fram serne marien ; vi, 70; x, 123; 
XI, 52 ; xi, 235 ; xxiii, 472, on serne mergen ; xn, 344, on 
serne msergen ; xv, 80, on serne merigen ; ^Elfric's Homily on 
the Booh of Judith, Assmann, Grein, Bibl, der A.-S. Prosa, 
ni, 113, 351, on serne mergen. 

Wulfstan's Homilies, vi (13, 14), Napier, 46, 14, ser on 
morgen (mane). 

Cockayne, Leechdoms, 1, 180 ; in, 92, 8, on serne mergen ; I, 
224, Chap, cxi, on serne mergen J?onne seo sunne serest upgange. 

Grein's Sprachschatz contains many examples of ser-morgen 
and ser-dsege (s. v.). 

I shall now cite a number of the more general expressions 
for morning : 

Bede's Ecclesiastical History, ii, vi, Miller, 114, 28, sona 
on marne; ill, I, 154, 34, sona on morne; in, viii, 182, 28, 
]?a hit ]?a wses on marne dseg geworden ; IV, in (3), 272, 2, on 
morne (Giles, in, 24, 20, mane) ; iv, viii (7), 284, 25 ; IV, 
xxv (24), 344, 17, on morgenne (mane). 

Anglo-Saxon Gospels, Mark, I, 35, ser (mane) ; Mark, xni, 
35, on mergen (mane) ; Mark, xvi, 2, swyfte ser (valde mane) ; 
Luke, iv, 42, $a gewordenum dsege (facta autem die) ; John, 
xx, 1, on mergen ser hit leoht wsere (mane tenebris adhuc 
existentibus). 



44 



Old Testament, Gen., I, often, morgen; Gen., xxvin, 18, on 
mergen J?a he aras (surgens mane) ; Gen., xli, 8, on morgen 
(facto mane) ; xliv, 3, on morgen (orto mane) ; Ex., x, 13, 
on morgen (mane facto) ; Ex. xvi, 13, 21 ; xxxn, 6, on 
morgen (mane); Ex. xvi, 20, 0$ hit morgen wees (usque 
mane); Ex., xxin, 18, oft morgen (usque mane); Num., xvi, 
8, on mergen. (The " eras " meaning is frequent in this work ; 
compare supra.) 

Blielding Homilies, 69, 28; 231, 36, on morgen; 235, 18, 
)?a se morgen geworden wses ; 201, 35 ; 203, 2 ; 207, 8, on 
morgenne; 207, 3, to morgne (to-morrow); 213, 22, morgen- 
dseg (morrow) ; 139, 18 ; 143, 2, morgenlican. 

^Elfric's Homilies, I, 504, 19, 23; n, 172, 3, 188, 17, on 
merigen ; I, 572, 30, on merien; ii, 138, 17, on merigenlicere 
tide; n, 172, 17, on ]?sere nihte J?e se andaga on merigen wses; 
ii, 182, 33, oft merigen. 

Wulfstan's Homilies, xxix (25), Napier, 137, 11, and seo 
sunne forswyreft sona on morgen and se mona nsefft nane 
lihtincge. 

Cockayne, Leechdoms, in, 6, 5 ; in, 8, 3, etc., on mergen ; 
in, 44, often, on morgenne. 

I. Dcegred. 

It will be remembered that Bede 2 and Byrhtferft, in their 
lists of the nightly hours, regarded Dsegred as the sixth 
division, and that Byrhtferft connected with it the songs of 
praise of the monks. The Blickling homilist mentions the 
service at this hour (207, 35): "Ac on dsegred, si)?J?an hit 
frumlyhte hie ]>yder inwseron to ftam lofsangum gesatnnode." 
The significance of the service itself has been discussed (supra). 

In Anglo-Saxon times, as now, Dsegred was the time that 
husbandmen went to the fields (Colloquy of iElfric, 90, 13) 
(Arator) : " Eala leof )?earle ic deorfe ; ic ga ut on dsegred 
(diluculo), ]?ywende oxon to felda and jugie hig to syl" 
(Gloss). 



ANGLO-SAXON DJEG-M^L. 45 

A few examples of the use of the word may be cited : 

Anglo-Saxon Gospels, Luke, xxiv, 1, swySe ser on dseg- 
red = diluculo profundo (opdpov (SaOeos) ; John, vin, 2, on 
dsegred (diluculo). 

Old Testament, Ex., vin, 20, on dsegred (diluculo) ; Ex., 
XIV, 23, on dsegred (vigilia matutina) ; Ex., xxix, 41, sefter 
J?sere dsegred-offrung (juxta ritum matutinae oblationis). 

Blichling Glosses, 64, 9 (B. H., p. 262) [ut-]gang dsegeredes : 
Exitus matutini. 

iElfric employs Dsegred in a simile (Lives of the Saints, v, 

108): 

" Swa swa dsegred todrsef ft j?a dimlican >ystra 
And manna eagan onlyht J?e blinde wseron on niht." * 

Other examples of Dsegred will be found in the poets (cf. 
Grein's Sprachschatz). 

Dsegred has many equivalents. Aurora is translated ( Wright- 
"Wulker, Vocabularies, 175, 52) by Dseg-rima; and this expres- 
sion, common in poetry (cf. Grein), is found more than once in 
the prose : Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, E. 1122, ];83t fir hi seagon 
in ]>e dsei rime and lseste swa lange ]?e hit wses liht ofer eall ; 
Schroer, Ben. Rule, vin, 33, 1, upaspringenum dsegriman 
(" Winteney," 43, 15, J?onne )?ses dseges lyht ajynd) = incipi- 
ente luce; iElfric's Homilies, I, 442, 33, arisende dsegrima. 
Another word with the sense of Dsegred appears in the 
Shepherd's speech in the Colloquy of JElfric ( Wright- Wulker, 
Vocabularies, 91, 12), on forewerdne morgen (in primo mane) 
ic drife sceap mine to heora lsese. Cf. u Lihting " ( Wulfstan 
Homilies, supra sub " Length of Sunday "). 

Many Anglo-Saxon phrases convey the idea of dawn : 
Bede, Ecclesiastical History, in, I (2), Miller, 154, 34, son a 
on morne swa hit dagian ongau (Giles, 264, 11, incipiente 
diluculo) ; in, vi (8), 174, 11, J?a wses in )7sere seolfan nihte 

1 Reum, Anglia, x, 482, says of such passages as this : " Weit oft sieht er 
(iElfric) sich in den Horn, und den Hlg. Lb. naturlich beeinfiusst durch 
die Sprache der Bibel und der Kirchenvater veranlasst Bilder und Beispiele 
einzuflechten." 



46 FREDERICK TUPPER, JR. 

J>sem ytemsestan dsele J?8et is )?a hit dagian ongon (Giles, 174, 
32, ipsa autem nocte in cujus ultima parte id est incipiente 
aurora); in, ix (11), 182, 28, )?a hit J?a wees on marne dseg 
geworden (Giles, 298, 24, mane facto) ; IV, x (8), 286, 24, 
}>onne dagunge tid cwome (Giles, in, 42, 21, adveniente dilu- 
culo) ; iv, x, 286, 26, ymb J>ses dseges upyrne (Giles, in, 42, 
22, circa exortum diei) ; iv, xxiv, 340, 25, swi]?e ser in 
dagunge (Giles, in, 110, 3, primo diluculo); V, xin (12), 422, 
28, in dagunge (Giles, in, 200, 28, diluculo) ; v, xvn (19), 
462, 9, on dagunge (Giles, HI, 248, 28, illuscente die). iElfric's 
Lives of the Saints, xxi, 172, mid ]?am ]?e hit dagode ; xxiii, 
489, mid J?am dsege. Bede, 2 Leechdoms, in, 206, 1, swylce 
hit ealle niht dagie. 

Crepusculum is glossed, Wright-Wii\ker's Vocabularies, 175, 
34, by " tweone leoht vel deorcung," and in the Concordia, 
475, 508, by "on leohtes J?eorcunge." Dsegred is the Morning 
Crepusculum in the technical sense used by Chaucer, Astrolabe, 
II, 6, Skeat, 20, " the spring of the dawyng and the ende of the 
evenynge, the which ben called the two Crepusculus." 

II. Prime. 

I have already shown that the Anglo-Saxons began their 
day at Prime or Sunrise (Benedictine Service, Bouterwek, 
Casdmon, cxcvi, on ]?sere forman dseg-tide, J?8et is be sunnan 
upgange). The sunrise-machinery of the poets has been 
treated by Gummere in his Anglo-Saxon Metaphor. 

A few prose examples are gleaned from Bede ? s Ecclesiastical 
History : I, xxi (23), 476, 6, o^er hiora (cometa) foreeode |?a 
sunnan on morgen J?onne heo upgangende wses, o^er on sefenne 
sefter fyligde J?onne heo on setl eode ; iv, in (3), 264, 22, from 
eastsuSdaele heofones j^set is from heanisse j;a3re winterlican 
sunnan upgonge (Giles, in, 18, 6, ab euro-austro, id est ab 
alto brumalis exortus) ; v, xin (12), 428, 24, su<5east on -Son 
rod or swa swa seo wintre sunne uppgongeft ; v, xin (12), 424, 
20, ongen norSeast rodor swa sunnan upgong br<5 set middum 
sumere. 



ANGLO-SAXON D^G-MJEL. 47 

ByrhtferS tells us something of the Prime service, Handboc, 
123, Anglia, vni, 319 : "On j?am dsege ys seo forme tid prima 
gehaten, on J?aere sceolon gemearcode cnihtas geornlice to gode 
clypian and J?a six tida blrSelice wurSian mid sealmsange godes 
lof up ahebban. Swa se haliga wer, Ambrosius in dagum cwa}$, 
1 Jam lucis orto sidere/ " etc. This is the hymn at Prime in 
the Benedictine Service (Bouterwek's Ccedmon, cc). In the 
Colloquy of JElfric ( Wright- Wulker, 101) the young monk 
says : " iEfter ];ysum prim and seofon sealmas and letania 
and capitos msessan. 

Numerous examples of Primsang present themselves : Bene- 
dictine Rule, Translation (Schroer), xvm, 40, 21, to primsange 
(prima hora) ; xvm, 42, 7, to primsange (ad primam) ; xlviii, 
73, 9, fram primsange (a prima); lxviii, 115, 13, 14, On J^sere 
forman tide J?ses daeges, prima hora diei (cf. 115, 14, 15, on 
J^sere oftre tide, secunda hora diei) ; Gloss (Logeman), xv, 45, 
16, prim (prima) ; xvi, 45, 6, primsanges (primae) ; xvi, 46, 
13, primsang (prima) ; xvii, 47, 5 ; xxin, 105, 13, on )?a3re 
forman tide (prima hora); xvm, 49, 1, 3, set primsange (ad 
primam) ; xvm, 48, 14-15, on J>sere forman tide on sunnan- 
dsege (prima hora dominica) ; xlviii, 81, 12, fram primsange 
(a prima) ; Concordia (Logeman, Anglia, xni), 246, 248, 478, 
509, 510, 667, 735, 912, 944, prim; 248, primsang. 

The " Oratio ad Primam" in the Durham Ritual is thus 
composed : (1). Deus qui ad principium hujus diei nos per- 
venire fecisti, etc., etc. (2). Domine Deus omnipotens qui 
nos in hanc horam matutinam secundam per nocturnas caligines 
pervenire fecisti. " Hora matutina secunda " implies, perhaps, 
that Uhtsang was " hora matutina prima ; " or else reference 
may be had to the two hours of which Prime was composed 
(Durand, Rationale, v, 2, p. 138). 

In connection with the hours beginning at Prime, I may 
refer to the daily life of the Virgin, Assmann, Grein, Bibl. 
der A.-S. Prosa, in, 127, Chap, x, Pseudo Matthaei Ev., line 
341 (June 22) : "And heo (Maria) gesette hyre sylfre haligne 
regol swa J?set heo wolde beon fram J?9ere serestan tide ]?3es 



48 FREDERICK TUPPER, JR. 

dseges on hyre halgum gebedum wuniende 0$ ]?8et ]?a ]?riddan 
tide and fram J?sere Jmddan tide 0$ iSa nigo]?an tide ymbe hyre 
webb geweorc. And eft fram j^sere nigoftan tide heo )?urh- 
wunode standende on hyre gebedum 0$ ]?set godes encgel 
hyre setywde." 

Prime in Middle English. 1 

Prime has an interesting history. In the Ancren Riwle, 
p. 20, it appears in Canonical connection, but without its old 
" sunrise " meaning : " Prime i)>e winter erlice, i]?e sumor 
bivor deies;" p. 20 (Morris, Selections, ix, 311): "Also efter ]?e 
ancre cumplie [a'Set prime] vort mid-morwen ne don no }>ing, 
ne ne singen hware J?uruh hire silence muwe beon i-sturbed." 
Prime holds its place as a Canonical Hour in the Holy Rood, 
p. 223 (E. E. T. Soc, 46), and in the Lay Folks Mass Book, 
86 (E. E. T. Soc, 71). Compare Horn, 977, bi pryme ; 857, 
primetide. 

Skeat, in his note to Piers Plowman, C. ix, 149, discusses 
the expression " hye prime," and shows that the Natural day 
(or day by the clock) is referred to. High Prime, Skeat 
believes, fell at 9 o'clock. Tyrwhit explains, in his note to 
Canterbury Tales, 1. 3904, that the Prime period was a fourth 
part of the day (6-9 a. m.) • and the long list of examples of 
the Chaucerian use of the expression, given by Skeat, Astro- 
labe, lxii, shows that Prime could be placed either at the 
beginning or end of this. 

In his Astrolabe Preface, lxi-lxii, Skeat discusses the 
passage in the Nonne Preestes Tale, B. 4377, where Chantic- 
leer's worth as a horologe is extolled • I defer to his article, 
and mention only the lines : 

" Caste up his eyen to the brighte so line 
That in the signe of Taurus hadde y-ronne 
Twenty degrees and oon, and somwhat more 

1 Of the meaning of Prime we know, thanks to Skeat and Brae, a little 
more than when W. Carew Hazlitt explained it as Noon (cf. Lowell, 
" Library of Old Authors," Essays, Eiverside Press ed., 1892, 1, pp. 337-338). 



ANGLO-SAXON DMG-MML. 49 

He knew by kynde and by noon other lore 
That it was Pryme, and crew with blisful stevene 
The sonne, he sayde, is clomben up on hevene 
Twenty (Forty) degrees and oon, and more y-wis." 

The most superficial reader can see that Prime could not 
now be six o'clock, as the sun, at this hour, at this dale, would 
not be far from the horizon. 

By far the best authority on Chaucer's Prime is Brae, who 
leaves in his excellent essay on that subject (Astrolabe, 90-101) 
very little else to be said. The opinion of Brae and Skeat 
that Prime had, usually, at this time, the meaning of 9 o'clock 
is confirmed by these lines from the King's Quair, v, xx 
(Rogers' Poetical Remains of James I, 1873, p. 69 ; Skeat's 
Specimens of Eng. Lit, 1394-1579, p. 386) : 

" Now hald thy grippis, quoth sche for thy time 
An houre and more it rynis over prime 
To count the hole, the half is nere away 
Spend wele, therefore, the remanant of the day." 

An hour or more over Prime or 9 o'clock causes half of 
the day to be " nere away." The three hours included in the 
Prime of this period — the Anglo-Saxon Prime included only 
a ipsa prima et secunda" — were called (Peck's Desiderata 
Ouriosa, I, 224 sq.) Mane Plenum and Spatium orationum 
primarum. 

When Prime acquired the meaning of 9 o'clock, it usurped 
the place of Undern (infra) as a meal hour ; compare Ship- 
man's Tale, B. 1396 : 



"And lat us dyne as sone as that ye may 
For, by my chilindre, it is prime of day." 

Prime in its earliest signification is not uncommon in later 
English poetry. Other examples may be added to those given 
in the Century Dictionary, sub " Prime," n, 2 : 

" Awake ; the morning shines and the fresh field 
Calls us ; we lose the prime," etc. 

(Paradise Lost, v, 20.) 
4 



50 



" While day arises, that sweet hour of prime." 

(Ibid., v, 170.) 

" The season, prime for sweetest sents and airs." 

(Ibid., ix, 200; compare Newton's Note.) 

Tennyson-Turner employs the word in one of his best 
sonnets, " The Lattice at Sunrise " (Sharp's Sonnets of this 
Century, p. 233) : 

" Nightly and daily, like the flowing sea, 

His lustre pierceth through the midnight glooms ; 
And at prime hour, behold ! He follows me 
With golden shadows to my secret rooms." 

Undern. 

The word Undern is common to all the Teutonic dialects, 
Fick, Indogermanisches Worterbuch, vii, 34 : 

"An. Undern, Vormittag ; Goth. Undaurni-mats, Mittags- 
essen ; A. S. Undarn, Undern ; Ags. Undern ; Ahd. Untorn, 
Untarn; Mhd. Undern, Mittag, Mittags-essen." l 

Kluge, Etymologisches Worterbuch, s. v., " Morgen " assigns 
to Undaurns the meaning " Mittag." The single Gothic ex- 
ample, Undaurni-mats, translates the Greek apicrrov rj $ei7rvov 
(prandium aut coenam), so it is impossible to determine the 
exact meaning in that dialect. According to the Icelandic- 
English Dictionary of Cleasby and Vigfusson (1874), the word 
occurs five times in Old Norse — once in the sense of mid- 
afternoon, twice as mid-forenoon, and twice as a meal-time, 
and is not found in provincial Icelandic of to-day. In Scandi- 
navia (Ibid.) and in Bavaria (Schade, Altdeutsches Worterbuch, 
1872, s. v.) the word is used to indicate a " middle-meal," 
taken either in the forenoon or in the evening. Before the 
word had passed out of German literary use, it lost its old 
"morning" meaning and was equivalent to Merenda or Nach- 

1 Undern may possibly be connected with un-dyrne ("not dark") since it 
was the full morning hour. The forms of the word in other dialects rather 
sustain than oppose this view of its origin. 



ANGLO-SAXON DJSG-M^L. 51 

mittags (Lexer, Mittelhochdeutsches Worterbuch, 1876, s. v.). 
The Century Dictionary shows that Undern means literally 
"the intervening time" (< Under = between) and gives two 
divisions of its use in provincial or obsolete English : (1). 
Nine o'clock in the morning; the period from nine o'clock to 
noon ; the canonical hour of terce. (2). Noon or afternoon ; 
also a noon-meal. With this necessary introduction, I can 
begin my study of Undern. 

Undern in Anglo-Saxon. 

Undern meant to the Anglo-Saxon the time midway between 
Sunrise and Midday, and was to the morning what None was 
to the afternoon (Horology). The " Martyr Book/' Shrine, 
79, says, " On ]?a Jmddan tid dseges ftset is on undern," and 
the Benedictine service (Bouterwek, Ccedmon, ccxiv) gives a 
characteristically symbolical reason why Undern should be 
celebrated : " Undern is dseges jmddan tide J?onne is eac riht- 
lic J7Eet we to j^aere jmddan tide J>a halgan jnynesse geornlice 
heriai-u" Undern is always the gloss to Tertia Hora : Wright- 
Wiilker, Vocabularies, 175, 44; Benedictine Rule, Gloss, XV, 
45, 16, undersang = tertia ; xvi, 46, 1 3, undernsanc = tertia; 
xvn, 47, 10, undersanges = tertie ; xvin, 48, 17, undern- 
sang = tertia ; xvin, 49, 8, to undernsange = ad tertiam ; 
xvin, 49, 14, set undernsange = tertiam ; xlviii, 82, 15, 
oft j?sere jmddan tide = usque ad tertiam ; Benedictine Rule, 
Translation, xvn, 41, 3, on undern = tercia; xvin, 42, 3-4, 
on undern = tercia ; xvin, 42, 5, on undern ; xvin, 42, 17, 
to undernsange = ad terciam ; xvin, 42, 22, on undern = 
ad tertiam ; xlviii, 73, 10, forneah an tid over undern = ad 
horam pene quartam — this shows the definiteness of Undern ; 
xlviii, 74, 4, an tid to underne = ad horam secundam ; 
xlviii, 74, 11, fram serrnorgen oft heane undern (" Win- 
teney," fram a3rne morgen oft heahne undern) = a mane 
usque ad terciam plenam ; " Winteney," xlviii, 99, 16, an 
tid toforan undern = hora secunda ; Concordia, Logeman, 



52 FREDERICK TUPPER, JR. 

314, 315, 329, 331, 554, 672, 953, Undern = tertia ; 57, 
Undersange (MS.) = tertia ; Anglo-Saxon Gospels, Matt., XX, 
3, ymbe undern-tide (liatton, ymbe under-tid) = circa tertiam 
horam ; Mark, XV, 25, undern-tid (Hatton, under-tid) = ter- 
tia hora." 

Cockayne renders the "to middes morgenes" of Leechdoms, 
II, 116, 17, by 7 o'clock. "As the morning begins/ 7 he says, 
" at dawn and ends at Undern, our nine o'clock, the middle 
will be about seven on the average." The absolute incorrect- 
ness of his translation is shown, first by Ecclesiastical Institutes, 
xlv, Thorpe, A. L., 488, where Undern is replaced by Midde- 
morgenne, and secondly by the use of Mid-morrow for Undern 
in Middle English (infra). In Old Norse, " mrSsmorguns " is 
not a synonym of " undurn," but falls at Prim (Norges Gamle 
Love, JB. ii, i, 308, cited by Cleasby-Vigfusson, s. v. Undorn) ; 
cf. Jamieson's Scottish Dictionary, s. v. Undern. 

The Anglo-Saxon Undern had, therefore, a definite signifi- 
cation and, unlike the Undern of later English, could mean 
only " tertia hora " or " mid-morning." Grein and Heyne, 
misled probably by Germanic analogies, translate " undern- 
mael " (Beowulf, 1429) by " Mittag." Even Sweet's rendering 
(Anglo-Saxon Reader, Glossary to 14a/300, 20/178) " morn- 
ing" is far too indefinite. Bright, Anglo-Saxon Reader, 
Glossary, s. v., gives " mid-morning " as an equivalent. In 
Leechdoms, n, 184, 25, on sefenne ge on underlie, the " morn- 
ing" meaning might possibly be preferred, but in nearly every 
case " tertia hora " is its synonym. 

Other Anglo-Saxon examples sustain the above view : Anglo- 
Saxon Chronicle, A . 530, A. B. C. F., fulneah healfe tid over 
undern (E. under) ; A . 530, A. fram sermergenne o$ undern 
(cited supra); A . 1122, E. fram J?a undern dseies to ]>& swarte 
niht; Blickling Homilies — Morris's Glossary, s. v. : "the third 
hour in the morning, also the forenoon from nine to twelve" — 
93, 22, set underne (wrongly translated, " at noon") ; 93, 36, ser 
underne (before the third hour); 93, 15, ofer undern (after the 
third hour); 47, 17, undern-tid (9 o'clock); 133, 27, undern- 



ANGLO-SAXON MXJ-AOEL. 53 

tid (translated, " undern-time ") ; 155, 19; 201, 25, set J^sere 
J?riddan tide ; iElfric's Homilies, I, 74, undern ; I, 314, hit is 
undern-tid ; I, 504, 22, ane tyd ofer undern ; n, 74, eft on 
undern ; n, 76, Ure cnihthad swylce undern-tide on \>am 
unstihj? ure geogu)? swa swa seo sunne de]? ymbe ]?aere Jmddao 
tide (supra). 

Undern in Canonical Usage. — Undern was, among the Anglo- 
Saxons, the time of the morning mass (Fosbroke, British 
Monachism, p. 27) : Bede, Ecclesiastical History, IV, xxni, 
38, 32, Fram undern tide, J?onne mon msessan oftost singe); ; 
iElfric's Homilies, ii, 358, 20, ymbe undern-tid, *§a 3a se 
bro*$or wses gewunod to msessigenne (Thorpe translates "ninth 
hour"); Colloquy of JElfric (Wright- Wulker, 101, 17), sy]>- 
J?an undertide and dydon msessa (MS.) be dsege ; Byrhtfer3, 
126, Anglia, viii, 320, 4, Hwset ]?a halgan underntid arce- 
biscopas mid gehadedum ]?egnum kyrtenlice wynsumia'S and 
)?a sej?elan munecas J>sere tide lof mid kyrriole and engla lof- 
sange gewur$ia"3. 

There were reasons for an important service at Undern 
(Benedictine Service, Bouterwek, Cwdmon, ccxiv) : " On un- 
dern we sculon God herian for]?am on undern-timan Crist 
wees ]?urh j^sera Judea dom to dea);e fordemed and toweard 
)?8ere rode gelsed J?e he sr33an on J?rowode for ealles middan- 
eardes alysednysse. And eft setter his seriste on pentecostenes 
daeg com se halga gast on undern-timan ofer )?a apostolas." 

I may mention here the "ser underne" of Aldred's very 
important autograph memorandum in the Durham Ritual, 
Stevenson, p. 185. 

Undern as a. Meal-time. — Undern was the Anglo-Saxon 
breakfast hour. Wright- Wulker, Vocabularies, 281, 30, under- 
roete = prandium (sefemnete = coena) ; 479, 3, undern-mete 
= sub modio; Bede, Ecclesiastical History, in, iv (6), 164, 
30, set his undernswaesendum (Giles, 280, 12, ad prandium) ; 
iElfred robs the epigrammatic Latin, "Prandite tamque apud 
inferos coenaturi," of all its force (Orosius, Sweet, n, v, 84, 
30) : " Mid p&m ]>e he sprecend wses to his geferum set his 



64 FREDERICK TUPPER, JR. 

underngereord ser he to J?sem gefeohte fore : ' Uton ne brucan 
pisses under metes swa J?a sculon ]?e heora gefen-giefl on helle 
gefeccean sculon.' " Pastoral Care, xliv, 322, 19, underngifl 
o$$e sefengifl (Gregory, xx, C, M. P. L., 77, 84, prandium aut 
coenam) ; Bliekling Homilies, 99, 2, heora underngereord u and 
sefengereordu hie mengdon togsedere ; Salomon and Saturn, 
Kemble, 193, 59, On xn mon)?um )>u scealt sillan ]?inutn 
J?eowan men, vn hund hlafa and xn hlafa buton morgen- 
metum and non-metum. 

We have (in the Leechdoms) far more direct evidence to the 
time of the first meal. One sufferer with a bad digestion is 
directed (n, 178, 1) to take "to undernes" bread broken in 
hot-water or peeled apples ; for another dyspeptic is pre- 
scribed (n, 194, 3) a very deadly diet of hard-boiled eggs, 
roots, lettuce, giblets, goose, etc. ; other more unpalatable 
doses are ordered (n, 18; n, 140, lxix ; II, 346, 4), and 
finally the invalid is to "take his constitutional" at that hour 
(n, 182). Quite a tort I quote in, 196, that the 26th Moon, 
" fram undertid o3 non nis na god mona blod Isetan." 

On fasting days the hungry faster was not allowed to com- 
pensate himself for the loss of breakfast (nndern-gereord) and 
dinner by gastronomic prowess at the evening meal (sefen-gifle 
or gyfel) (" Ecclesiastical Institutes," xxxvni, Thorpe, A. L., 
486) : " On undern and on sefen " was the time of meals on 
Quadragesima Sundays (iElfric, Lives of Saints, xn, 2). 

Undern in Middle JEhglish. 

Two things must be noted in studying the later history of 
the Anglo-Saxon hours : 

I. As Canonical Hours they were rather comprehensive, 
including often the quarter of a day. This served to increase 
their vagueness and to prevent their names being limited defi- 
nitely to single hours. In the case of Prime and Undern the 
hours of early-morning and mid-morning service were not 
changed, but the names came to be applied rather to the end 



ANGLO-SAXON D^G-M^L. 55 

than to the beginning of the " spatium orationis." How None 
was used for a division of time, two hours before the old " nona 
hora," will be considered later. 

II. The introduction of clocks into England during the 
13th and 14th Centuries {supra sub Horologies) established 
" equinoctial " hours and caused the old temporary divisions 
to lose their meaning. This innovation did not affect Prime 
and Undern, which were not destined to live long in the 
language, as decidedly as it did None. 

The Middle English examples of Undern that I shall give 
are not, of course, exhaustive ; yet, in spite of their limited 
number, they will illustrate, I hope, the different stages in 
the word's history. 

Two questions must be discussed under Undern : 

A. The change of meaning in Undern itself. 

B. The connection of Undern with Undermele and Under- 
tide. 

A. 

(a). In religious poems and prose, scriptural events con- 
nect themselves immediately with certain hours and indicate 
their time. 

In Orm, 19458 (Holt, 1878, n, 374), the meaning is not 

uncertain : 

" Godes gast off hefine com 
I firen onnlicnesse 
Uppo the Laferrd Cristess hird 
An dagg at unndern time." 

The Gift of Tongues was at " hora tercia diei " (Acts, n, 
15). In Aneren Riwle, 24, 426, it is equal, as in Anglo-Saxon 
usage, to Mid-morrow, and Ibid., 400, Under-tid is the time 
of the ascent to the cross (Mark, xv, 25, hora tertia). Holy 
Rood, p. 222 (E. E. T. Soc, 46), "at hondren day on eode J>e 
giwes grene ; Legend of St. Katharine, 1. 2940 (E. E. T. Soc, 

80, p. 122) : 

" Fridei onont te under 
I >e dei and >e time 
J>. hire deore leofmon 



56 FREDERICK TUPPER, JR. 

Jesuse ure loverd 
Leafde lif on rode 
f Fur hire and fur us alle." 

Latin — hora tercia, servans videlicet diem et horam. Lay 
Folk's Mass Book, 84 (E. E. 1. Soc, 71, 1879), tells of the 
cries of the Jews at the 3rd hour : "At the time of oundren 
J?ai gaii cry and call;" Ibid., p. 131, 1. 125 ("Vernon MS."), 
gives the time of travelers' masses : 

" In be morweninge gif fc>u may 
And gif J>ou may not do so 
I rede beo underne or fcm go 
Or elles be heig midday." 

William of Shoreham, Wright, p. 81 , names : " Thyse oures 
of the Canone at matyn-tyde by nygte — at prime — at ondre — 
atte syxte tyde — atte none — at evesange — at complyn ; Ibid., 
p. 84, " Crucyfige ! Crucifige ! Greddon hi at ondre " (tercia 
hora). 

In Cursor Mundi (A. D. 1320), 1. 16741, Undern has 
asumed the meaning of " midday : " " Be J?is was undren on 
]?e dai J?at mirckend al )>e light (cf. Matt., xxvn, 45 ; Mark, 
xv, 33; Luke, xxiii, 44, " Erat autem fere hora sexta et 
tenebrae factae sunt," etc.). The " midday " meaning of 
Undern is common in the speech of Wycliffe. Contrast with 
William of Shoreharn's list (supra), the Canonical Hours in 
WyclmVs Rule of St. Francis (Matthew, E. E. T. Soc, 74, 
p. 41) : " But late lewid freris seie four and twenti pater 
nostris for matynes, for laudes five, for prime, tierce (9 a. m.), 
undren (12 m.) and noon (3 p. m.), for eche of hem seven 
pater nostris and for evensong twelve and for compleyn 
sevene " (Note). Many examples are found in the Wyclimte 
versions cf the New Testament (Forshall and Madden, 1850) : 
Matt., xx, 3, thridde our (A. S. undern) ; Mark, xv, 25, 
Forsoth it was the thridde our that men clepen undrun 
(Variants, p. 136, unduren, undren, underne); Mark, xv, 
33, and the syxte our or mydday (Variants, p. 137, or 
undurne); Luke, xxiii, 44, Sothly it was almost the sixte 



ANGLO-SAXON D^G-M^L. 57 

our (Variants, our or middai, hour or underne) ; John, IV, 7, 
Sothli the our was the syxte or undurn (Var., midday); Acts, 
II, 15, It is thridde our of the day or underne. 

In the South Undern retains its old meaning. As the 
passage from the Cursor Mundi indicates, the " midday " 
signification is doubtless one of the traces of the North in 
Wycliffe's work, or may indicate a Northern scribe. It is 
not surprising to find the word assuming before it disappeared 
from literature, the meaning " midday " in the very section 
where it was to have for centuries a signification unknown to 
the Anglo-Saxons. 

(b). In non-scriptural usage it is harder to find the time. 
Bradley-Stratmann gives several examples of the word's occur- 
rence, but I shall mention only instances that determine its 
meaning : 

Old English Miscellanies, 33 (E. E. T. Soc, 49), at undren 
and at midday also ; 56, 657, at )>on heye undarne (this has 
undoubtedly the "tercia plena" meaning of Ben. Rule, Trsl., 
XL viii, 74, 11, quoted supra — cf. high prime, Piers Plow- 
man, C. ix, 149, and "heie none," Holy Rood, 44, 308); 
Alexander, 5853 (E. E. T. Soc, Extra Ser. 47), myd over 
underne (Skeat's Note) ; Alliterative Poems, A. 512 (Morris, 
E. E. T. Soc, i; Gollancz, Pearl, 1891, stanza 43), aboute 
under: the Editor of Catholicon Anglicanum, s. v., Orendron 
and Gollancz, in his Edition de luxe, translate this as "Noon," 
but the sense of " third hour" is clear; Holy Rood, 721 (E. 
E. T. Soc, 46, 82), betwix ]>e underen and p>e prime; Chaucer, 
B. 4412, Till it was passed undern of the day : Morris, in his 
Clarendon Press Ed. of Prologue, etc, Glossary, s. v., assigns 
Undern in the last passage to 11 a. m. I prefer to think with 
Brae (Essay on Prime, Astrolabe) that it is synchronous with 
the 9 o'clock Pryme of B. 4387 (Skeat, Astrolabe, lxi). 
Tyrwhitt explains Chaucer, v. 8136 (Clerk's Tale) = E. 260, 
" the time of undurne of the same day," as the third hour of 
the day or 9 o'clock ; the original here has " hora prandii " 
from which we may, with reason, infer that Undern was in 



58 FREDERICK TTJPPER, JR. 

Chaucer's day a meal-time. In v. 8857 (Tyrwhitt's Ed.) = 
E. 981, Undern translates "hora tertia." Thus, whatever 
may be true of the North, in the southerly counties, Undern 
retained to the end its Anglo-Saxon meaning. 1 

A few words about the later history of Undern : Catholicon 
Anglicanum, p. 261, gives these definitions: " Orendron — 
Meridies ; Orendron-mete — Merenda ; To ete orendron-mete 
— Merendinare." The Promptorium Parvulorum definition 
will be discussed later. 

In the Collection of North Country Words, made by Ray in 
1691 {Eng. Dialect Soc, xv, 1874), cited by Skeat, Etymologi- 
cal Dictionary, and by the Century, we find numerous cor- 
ruptions of Undern : u Aandorn sb. Merenda, an afternoon 
meal; Orndorns, afternoon drinking (Cumberland); Aunder 
or Oneder (Cheschire), Doundrins (Derby), Dondinner (York- 
shire) = afternoon drinking. Undern has thus acquired, in 
modern dialects, a meaning which, in literary English, it 
never assumed. 

B. 

Tyrwhitt, Glossary, is perplexed by the etymology of " under- 
meles," but refers to the passage cited by Peck, Desiderata 
Curiosa, Vol. I, vi, 36 (Ed. of 1777, I, p. 229 sq.), from 
the Town Book of Stamford, xvin, E. iv : " It is ordeyned 
that no person opyn their sack or let the corn to sale 
before the hour of ten of the clok, or else the undernone 
bell be rongyn." 

"Undertime," says Nares in his Glossary (London, 1876), 
" means Evening from Under and time, the inferior or under 
part of the day. It has no connection with Undern which, 
as we have seen, refers to an early hour before Noon." Skeat, 
Etym. Diet, Chaucer's Complete Works, Notes to Canterbury 
Tales, p. 315, claims that such a connection exists. 

X I cannot find the slightest authority for Skeat's statement (Chaucer's 
Complete Works, Notes to Canterbury Tales, p. 345 ; Glossary, s. v. Undern) 
that Undern meant sometimes 10.30 or 11 a. m., sometimes an afternoon 
hour. 



ANGLO-SAXON DJ3G-M^L. 59 

The best argument against INares' position is one from ex- 
ample. I cite some instances already mentioned : Anglo-Saxon 
Gospels, Matt., xx, 3, Hatton MS., under-tid ; Mark, xv, 25, 
Corp. undern-tide, Hatton, under tid ; Ben. Service, Bouterwek, 
Ccedmon, ccxiy, undern-timan ; JBeoivulf, 1429, undern-mael ; 
Wright- Wiilker, Vocabularies, 101, 17, undertid ; 281, 30, 
under-mete; Orosius, II, v, 84, 30, undermetes ; Leechdoms, 
m, 196, 8, undertid; Concordia, 57, undersang; Ben. Rule, 
Gloss, xv, 45, 16, undersang. To continue into Middle Eng- 
lish the history of these forms : Ancren Riwle, 400, under-tid; 
Ritson, Metrical Romances, n, 251, Orpheus 73, undertyde 
(cited by Bradley-Stratmann) ; Boddeker, " Harleian MS. 
2253," p. 184, Geistliche Lieder, n, 5, at under (9 o'clock); 
St. Katharine, 2940 {supra), onont te under ; All. Poems, A. 
512 (supra), aboute under. The above list shows the identity 
of Under and its compounds with Undern — a clear case of 
° phonetic decay." 

Under-mele was however to change its meaning. Trevisa 
(v, 173) translates Higden's Latin, " meridiano tempore" by 
" under-mele-tide ; " here the "Harleian MS. 2261" reads 
" in his meridien tynie." In Chaucer's well-known " under- 
meles and morweninges " (Wife of Bath's Tale, D. 875) an 
afternoon time is indicated, but the idea of repast is not neces- 
sarily present. That the name of the meal, however, was 
connected on certain occasions with the period of the day is 
shown very strikingly, Tale of Beryn, 226 (Chaucer Society, 
2nd Ser., 17, 1876) : 

" Then al this aftyr-mete I hold it for the beste 
To sport and pley us, quod the hoost, eeche man as him leste." 

Ibid., 1. 388 : 

" They wissh and sett rigte as he bad each man with his frere 
And bigonne to talk of sportis and of chere 
pat they had the after-mete whils bey were out." 

The context shows that " after-mete " was the period between 
the Midday-meal and Supper. 



60 FREDERICK TUPPER, JR. 

No very rigid laws can be applied to these hour-changes. 
An analogous case to the one that I am discussing presents 
itself. In many sections of America, certainly of the Southern 
States, Noon has the well-defined meaning of Midday, while 
Afternoon is used to cover the period between the 2nd and 
3rd meals (roughly speaking, 3-7 p. m.). Just such a case 
is the one before us. Undern and Under-mele gradually 
became separated, the divergence being assisted by popular 
etymology 1 and by such reasons as I have given at the begin- 
ning of my treatment of the Middle English Undern. The 
difference in meaning is particularly striking in the Promp- 
torium Parvulorum (1450), Way, 1865, p. 511: " Underne 
(Undyre and Undermele), Submeridianum, Submesimbria, C. 
F. In Mesimbria; Undermele, Postmeridies, Postmesimbria, 
Merarium." It will aid my discussion of None to note here 
that these meanings of Under-mele and After-mete constitute 
a strong argument in favor of a meal at Midday. 

The later history of Under-mele has been traced by Nares. 
His examples (Glossary, s. v.) show that it was not an 
uncommon word in Elizabethan English, and that it then 
and later bore the meaning of Afternoon (Coles, Eng. Dic- 
tionary, 1677). 

Middazg. 

This Hour does not need much comment. In canonical 
use it was one of the less important services and is always the 
translation of Sexta hora or Meridies : 

Benedictine Rule, Gloss (Logeman), xv, 45, 16 ; xvi, 46, 
14; xvm, 47, 10; xvm, 48, 17, 49, 9, 49, 14; xxm, 
56, 13; xxxvin, 70, 11-12; xli, 73, 4; xlviii, 81, 15, 
middsegsang = sexta ; Translation (Schr5er), xvn, 41, 3 ; 
xvm, 42, 4, 17, 23; xxiv, 42, 23; xxiv, 49, 7; XLVin, 
73, 11, middseg = sexta ; Concordia, Logeman, 371 (twice), 
674, 687, 955, 956, midday = sexta. 

x If "Under" had aught of its old "between" meaning, it was natural 
that "undermele" should fall in the afternoon, between dinner and supper. 



ANGLO-SAXON DJEG-M^L. 61 

In other texts it has the same meaning : 

Orosius, in, V, 104, niht o3 midne dseg (nox usque ad 
plurimam diei partem) ; IV, 7, 184, 28, niht o^ midne dseg 
(nocte multa lucem claram effulsus) ; Bede's Ecclesiastical 
History, n, xiii (16), 1*44, 12, set middum da3ge (Giles, n, 
240, 3, die media); IV, viii (7), 284, 16, ]?on sunnan leoht 
br3 ast middan dsege (Giles, ill, 40, 4, sol meridianus); iv, 
xxxm (32), 384, 1, J?a hit wses foreweard middseges (Giles, 
in, 156, 8, immioente hora ipsius diei); v, VI (6), 402, 1, 
wses hit huhugu seo seoftrSe tid dseges, ftset is an tid ofer 
midne dseg (Giles, in, 176, 16, erat autem hora diei circiter 
septima) ; v, xiii (12), 430, 7, o"5]?e 3sere middseglican sun- 
nan sciman (Giles, nr, 206, 33, sive solis meridiani radiis). 
Anglo-Saxon Gospels, Matt., xxv, 5, ymbe ]>& sixtan tide ; 
Matt., xxviii, 45, frarn j^sere sixtan 0$ ];a nigo]?an tide; 
Mark., xv, 33, and on ]?sere sixtan tide ; Luke, xxin, 44, 
seo syxte tid; John, iv, 6, vn, 14, middseg; ix, 14, seo 
syxte tid. Old Testament (Grein, Bibl. der A.-8. Prosa, i), 
Gen., XL.ni, 16, to middes dseges, meridie; Deut., xxviii, 
29, on midne dseg, in meridie; Blickling Homilies, 91, 28, 
on midne dseg; 145, 27, ser ]>aere syxtan tide )>8es dseges; 
JElfric, Homilies, I, 108, 18, 228, 14, frarn middsege o3 non ; 
I, 128, 12, ofer midne dseg ; iElfric, Lives of Saints, in, 341 ; 
xviii, 16, oft ofer midne dseg; in, 590, middeges (at mid- 
day); in, 595, oft middseg; Leechdoms, i, 180, Chap, lxxvii, 
to middan-dsege ; n, 28, 5, J>onne middseg sie ; n, 140, Chap. 
LXiv, on ]?reo tida, on undern, on middseg and on non ; II, 
146, Chap, lxxii; in, 74, 6, on middel-dagum; ii, 288, 25, 
he seeal fsestan ofi midne dseg; in, 186, 5; 188, 22; 190, 
20; 194, 24; 196, 4, syxtan tide; Wright- Wiilker, Voc, 175, 
45, sexta, middseg ; 450, 5, middsegtid, meridies. 

The Benedictine Service, Bouterwek, Cazdmon, ccxvi, enjoins 
a service of praise at Midday " forSon to middes dseges Crist 
wses on rode a]?ened," etc. 

The connection of Midday with the meal-time of the Anglo- 
Saxons will be considered under the head of None. 



62 FREDERICK TUPPER, JR. 



None. 



Peck, in his Desiderata Curiosa, i, 124 sq., regards Noon 
as a contraction of the Latin " novus dies " and argues from 
this that the Saxons began the Natural Day 1 at Midday. He 
has been followed, it is needless to say, by no later writer. 
The Anglo-Saxon None, etymologically our Noon, has always 
the meaning of " nona hora : " 

Benedictine Rule, Gloss, xv, 46, 5, none (Lat.) ; xv, 46, 
14, nonsanc = nona ; xvn, 47, 10-11, nonsanges = none ; 
xviii, 49, 15, set nonsange = nonam ; xxin, 56, 14, to nonas 
= nona; xxxvin, 70, 12, nones = none; xli, 73, 7, o$ 
non = usque ad nonam ; XLI, 73, 1 5, to nonas = ad nonam ; 
xlviii, 81, 18; 82, 10; 82, 11-12, J?sere nontide = hore 
none; Translation, xvn, 41, 3; xviii, 42, 4; xxiv, 49, 7, 
8, on non = nona ; xviii, 42, 18, to nonsange = ad nonam ; 
xvn, 42, 23, on non = ad nonam ; xlviii, 73, 14, sy se non 
geradod and sy gehringed ]?onne seo eahtofte tid br<5 healf 
agan ; xlviii, 74, 12, an tid ofer non = ad decimam plenam; 
Concordia, 378, 483, 567, 674, 732, 734, 737, non = nona; 
833, tide nones = hora nona. Bede, Ecclesiastical History, iv, 
xiv, 296, 14, gefylledre nontide; Shrine, 80, 1, o$ $a nige- 
'San tid ]?a3t is ]?onne non ; 85, 30, on fta nygeftan tide ]?3et is 
on 3one non. Anglo-Saxon Gospels, Matt., xxvii, 45; Luke, 
xxin, 44, o]> J?a nvgo)?an tide ; Matt., XX, 5, ymbe J?a sixtan 
and nigojmn tide ; xxvn, 46, and ymbe )?a nigo}>an tide ; 
Mark, xv, 33, o^> non-tide = usque in horam nonam ; xv, 
34, to non -tid = hora nona; iElfric's Homilies, I, 216, j>a 
embe nontid ; I, 228, fram middsege oJ> non ; n, 74, se non 
fram Moyse o^ Dryhtnes to-cyme; n, 76, seo non-tid bi"3 ure 
yld forSan 3e on non-tide asyhft seo sunne and Sees ealdi- 
gendan mannes msegen bift wanigende (supra) ; II, 256, hwa3t 
fta, ymbe midne daeg wear<5 middaneard a^eostrod and seo 

1 Let me emphasize here — as I have done in my first pages — the Saxon 
" Natural ." As distinguished from the classical idea, it is always connected 
with equal hours. 



ANGLO-SAXON D^G-MJ3L. 63 

sunne, behydde hire hatan leoman o$ -Sa nigoiSan tide, "5e we 
non hataft (a reference to the Passion); Leechdoms, n, 140, 
Chap, lxiv, on non; n, 290, 7, to nones; 1 in, 186, 5, fram 
tide )?8ere syxtan o3 non god mona (4th Moon) blod lsetan ; 
in, 194, 3, o$ "Sa nigoben; in, 196, 4, 8, 0$ non; in, 196, 
17, fram non-tide; Wright- Wiil ker, Vocabularies, 101, 19, we 
sungon non ; 175, 46, non = nona hora. The Benedictine 
Service gives the reason for worship at this hour (Bouterwek, 
Ckedmon, ccxvi) : " On nontiman we sculon God herian forJ?am 
on bone timan Crist gebsed for barn ]?e him deredon and srSftan 
his gast asende and on bone timan sculon geleaffulle men hi 
georne gebiddan " (cf. Bouterwek, cxc). 

None as a Meal-time. 

Wright, Homes of Other Days, 1871, p. 34, is inclined to 
consider None the meal-time, as Midday and not as one of 
the Canonical Hours. I shall take a very similar view of the 
Middle English None, but Wright's statement is certainly not 
true of the Anglo-Saxon dinner-hour. 

The Glosses help us in finding the time of the 2nd meal ; 
Wright- Wiilker, Vocabularies, 147, 30, Merenda = Non-mete ; 
282, 13 ; 353, 28, Annona = Non-mete. Bells summoned 
the monks to their meals at None; Ben. Rule, Translation, 
XL viii, 98, 5 : " Sift-San hy J>one forman cnyll to none gehyren, 
gongen hy ealle from hyra weorce and don hy gearuwe bget hi 
magon to cirican bonne man eft cnylle. Donne eft sefter heora 
nongereorde (' Winteney/ 99, 20, non-mete = refectio) raeden 
hy eft heora bee oftfte hyra psalmas singan." The Concordia, 
1. 374, commands, with even more definiteness that, at the first 
none bell (primum signum nonae), the monks should wash 
their hands and prepare themselves for the repast. In the 

x The adverbial phrases, "to nones/' "to middes daeges" (Gen., xliii, 16) 
are to be rendered, as the contexts show, "at noon," "at midday." "To 
sefenes" (Conf. Ecgberti, xxx, Th., A. L., 355) means undoubtedly "till 
evening" (for this and like phrases, compare Sievers-Cook, Old English 
Grammar, p. 178, | 320, Note). 



64 FREDERICK TUPPER, JR. 

Colloquy of JElfric ( Wright- Wiilker, Voc, 103) the young 
monk places "the eating and drinking'*' after Middaysong, 
but in the Benedictine Rule, xli, it is directed that the times 
of meals vary with the seasons : " From Easter to Pentecost 
let the brothers refresh themselves at the sixth hour (Logernan, 
65, 14, )?8es middseges gereord). During the Summer if the 
labors of the field do not hold them and the heat disturb 
them, let them fast even to None on Wednesday and Friday ; 
on other days let them take their meals at the 6th Hour. 
From the Ides of September let them ever refresh themselves 
at None (to nones gereorden).'* That the Anglo-Saxon drafters 
of the Concordia found such a variation of the meal-hour neces- 
sary is shown by their enjoining (1. 560) the monks to take 
" from Easter to Holyrood Day dinner at sext, followed by 
the meridien sleep; from Holyrood Day to Lent, on Wednes- 
days and Fridays in the Summer, and at all the fasts of the 
order, dinner at None."' According to Benedictine Rule, Chap, 
xxiv, 49, 7, an excommunicated person should receive his 
dinner alone after the dinner-time of the brothers, if the 
brothers at Midday, he at Noon, if the brothers at Noon, he 
at Evening. That Noon was the dinner hour of all classes 
is indicated by an interesting entry in the Chronicle (E. 1140) : 
" J?erefter in |;e Lengten J^estrede ]?e sunne and te daei abuton 
non-tid daies ]m men eten ]?set men lihtede candles to seten bi." 

None on Fast Days. 

Bede tells us (Feci Hist, in, 5, 162, 8) that, by the example 
of Bishop Aidan, it became the habit for all religious people 
to fast up to the ninth hour (to nones) on the fourth and six 
days l of the week except during fifty days after Easter. 

1 That honor was paid to Wednesday and Friday by the Anglo-Saxons, 
the Laws give ample evidence : Bouterwek, Ccedmon, lv; Theodore, " Peni- 
tentiale," xvir, 6, Thorpe, A. L., p. 283; "Excerptions" of Ecgbert, 108, 
Thorpe, A. L., 335; "Constitutions" of Odo, Spelman, Concilia, p. 417, 
Johnson, 362; "Excerptions" of Ecgbert, xxxvi, Thorpe, 329; "Canons" 
of ^Elfric, 37, Thorpe, 450; Edgar's Laws, n, 5, Schmid, 188; Athelred, V, 
17, Schmid, 224; vi, 24, Schmid, 230; Canute, I, 16, Schmid, 262; Athel- 
stan, v, 3, Schmid, 154 ; Leechdoms, ill, 224. 



ANGLO-SAXON D^G-MJEL. 65 

Two of the MSS. of the " Confessionale " of Ecgbert, Arch- 
bishop of York, contain this interesting addendum (xxxvn, 
N. 6, Thorpe, A. L., 358) : " On fam serran dsege set geolum 
(y. = Bodl. Laud, F. 17, middan wintra) set none, srSftan 
msesse by$ gesungen heo gereordia^S Romani; Grecas to 
sefenne, )?onne sefen br3 gesungen and msesse, J?onne fo$ hi 
to mete." 

Wulfstan {Homilies, lv (la), 284, 28; xxix, (25), 136, 
16; xvn (22), Sermo in XL, 102, 23) enjoins every healthy 
man to fast until None (to nones) on every Lenten day. 
Ecclesiastical Institutes, xxxix, Thorpe, A. L., 486, and the 
Sermon on the 3rd Sunday in Lent (Assmann, Grein, Bibl. 
der A. -8. Prosa, III, p. 140), unite in declaring that it is no 
fitting fast to take to meat as soon as one hears the none-bell 
(Sermon : " sona swa hy J?set belltacen gehyra^S J?sere nigo]>an 
tide, ]?set is seo non-tid ") ; but it is proper to postpone the 
meal until after evening-service (Sermon, " sefen j?enunge "). 

None in Middle English. 

Johnson, Note to Edgar's Canons (Baron's ed., p. 410), 
explains thus the change in the meaning of None: 

" The monks could not eat their dinner till they had said 
their noonsong, which was a service regularly to be said at 
three o'clock, but they probably anticipated their devotions 
and their dinner by saying their noondaysong immediately 
after their middaysong and presently falling on. But it may 
fairly be supposed that when Midday became the time of 
dining and saying noonsong it was for that reason called 
Noon by the monks." This is true in part. Ancren Riwle, 
p. 21, shows, however, that during a great part of the year 
the 2nd meal preceded Nones. 

Skeat, Etymological Dictionary, Kluge, Etymologisches Wor- 

terbuch, and the Century Dictionary claim that the time of the 

Church Service called Nones was altered and that the term 

came to be applied to Midday. My own view is this. The 

5 



66 FREDERICK TUPPER, JR. 

time of None became settled at midday, after the introduction 
of clock hours and a fixed time-standard, because the None- 
meal was eaten at 12 o'clock. My reasons for this opinion 
may be thus stated : 

1. Even in Anglo-Saxon times the time of the 2nd meal 
was varying. The examples from the Benedictine Rule and the 
Concordia, given under None as a Meal-time, show this. 

2. The Canonical Hour, Nones, retained its meaning of 
9th Hour long after None had been applied to Midday. To 
sustain this by example : Layamon, v. 31733 (Madden, 1847, 
in, 276), indicates a " ninth hour " meaning : 

" J>a hit wes uppen non 
J?a sunne gan to nipen." 

Id., II, 163, v. 14039 (Bradley-Stratmann) ; n, 291, 17063 
B.-s. are not determinative. "At midday and at none" of 
Old, English Miscellany, p. 50 B.-S., and of the Parable of 
Vineyard, Boddeker (MS. Harl. 2253), 185, 1, shows a reten- 
tion of the old signification. In the Lives of the Saints (c. 
1300), 56, 217, 232 (Horstmann), the Canonical Nones retains 
its position : "& si]?]?e also prime and underne sij>]?e and middai 
and afterwardes non." Such is the case in the " York Hours 
of the Cross " (c. 1300) (Lay Folks Mass Book, E. E. T. Soc, 

71, 86, 54) : 

"At the tyme of none Jesus gun cry 
He wytte his saul to his fader." 

And William of Shoreham (Wright, 1849, p. 86) connects 
the Hour with the death of Christ. Wycliffe always assigns 
to None the meaning of 9th Hour : Bide of St. Francis, p. 41 
(supra); Matt., xx, 3, sixte hour and nynethe; Mark, xv, 
33, til in to the nynthe hour, that is noon ; Luke, xxni, 44, 
to the nynthe hour (Variants, or none) ; Acts, hi, 1, at the 
nynthe our of preying; Acts, x, 3, nynthe hour or noon. 
Noon is applied to Midday early in the 14th Century, but 
Nones, the time of holy worship, is still the 9th hour in the 
Roman Breviary and the Anglican Hymnal. 



ANGLO-SAXON DJEG-M^L. 67 

3. When None is applied to Midday it still remains the 
meal-hour. I trace rapidly its history. Very often None is 
a mere expletive : Guy of Warwick (E. E. T. Soc, Extr. Ser., 
25-26), 1. 3342, till none ; 5928, longe or none ; Generydes, 
Wright, 180 (E. E. T. Soc., 55, 6), er it be none ; Athelstan, 
Reliq. Antiq., II, 90, or it be none ; n, 95, or none. In King 
Horn, however, None is the dinner-hour (1. 358) : 

"Gonu qua> heo sone 
And send him after none 
* * * * 

I. 368, Horn in halle fond he j?o 

Before \>e kyng on benche 
[Eed] wyn for to schenche 
Horn quaj? he so hende 
To bure nu \>\i wende 
After mete stille 
With Kymenhild to dwelle." 

We find in Concordia, 1. 484, J^aene non na fylige scence ; 
and the very expression None-chence is used as the name of 
donations to drink for workmen, Letter Book G., fol. rv (1354), 
Riley's Memorials of London, 265, Note 7 (cited Skeat's Note 
to Piers Plowman, ix, 158, Nuncheon). Another citation 
from Horn (1. 801) : 

" J>e King him makede a feste 
wi> his knigtes beste 
J>er cam in at non." 

At the end of the 13th Century, the very time of the 
introduction of clocks, None suffered change. The earliest 
undoubted example of a midday-meaning that I have dis- 
covered is from Horstmann, Lives of the Saints (1285-1300), 
45, 402, 311 : 

" For >at is evene above J>in heved rigt at>e nones stounde 
Onunder )>ine fet evene it (the sun) is at midnigt onder >e grounde . . . 
And noon it is benethen us ! whane it is here midnist." 

Cf. Id., 27, 1469, 148 ; 39, 137, 264 : Morris is wrong, 
however, in assigning such a meaning to Specimens, I, 3a, 81 ; 



JK. 



6a, b 255, etc. Ritson, Metrical Romances, n, 251, 73, points 
to a midday-meaning : 

"And lete him slepe tyl after none 
That the under-tyde was agane." 

(Yet under-tyd may be postmesimbria). Cursor Mundi, 

16764: 

" Be Ms it was >e dai sun gane 
}>at comen was to none." 

The allusion is to Christ's death and the Canonical mean- 
ing is kept; but it is significant that in those texts (Cursor 
Mundi and Wycliffe), where Undern becomes Midday, None 
is the 9th Hour. 

The 12 o'clock None is still the dining hour; Piers Plow- 
man, C. 7, 429 ; 9, 146, Nones, the noon meal ; 9, 290, None; 
3, 100, before None. Skeat (Id., E. E. T. Soc, 67) shows in 
his Note, p. 165, to 9, 146, " that the hour named None is 
what we now call noon, viz., 12 o'clock," and that we are to 
understand the "anchorites and hermites as having but one 
meal a day and that at Midday ? " In Chaucer the midday- 
meaning is fixed, Astrolabe, Part n, 4, 18 : "I mene from xi 
of the clokke biforn the hour of noon til on of the clok next 
folwyng." Yet in the pseudo-Chaucerian Tale of Beryn, C. 
Series, II, 17, 169, the pilgrims dine at this hour : 

"And sith bey droug to dynerward, as it droug to noon." l 

Undermele and aftermete (supra) bespeak a Midday dinner, 
and the Glosses tell the same story : Reliquiae Antiquae, I, 6, 
" Liber Festivalis," non-mete, merenda ; Promptorium Par- 
vulorum, p. 360, nun-mete, merenda, anticinium, receives a 
copious note from Way (Id., 360, IV, 3). The word "Noon- 
ing " that he cites is in itself a strong argument for the close 
connection between Noon and the Middle English meal-time 

1 Although Wright, Homes of Other Days, p. 405, quotes largely from the 
lale of Beryn, he does not mention this very important line. It would 
perhaps interfere with his theory (p. 261) of an early breakfast, a 9 o'clock 
dinner, and a 5 p. m. supper. 



ANGLO-SAXON D^G-M^L. 69 

(Way s. v. Bever; Hampson, M. A. Kalendarium, s. v.). 
The change in meaning is therefore to be looked for in the 
shifting of Nooning and Nuneheon to Midday. 1 

JEfen. 

A good definition of the time of iEfen is found in Allit. 
Poems, A. 512 {E. E. T. Soc., 64) : 

"At the day of date of even-songe 
An oure byfore the sonne go doun." 

This allows for the change of the Artificial Day, and corres- 
ponds exactly to the definition of Durand, Rationale, v, ii, 138, 

1 Noon or 12 o'clock was undoubtedly the meal-hour in 1475, according to 
" MS. Harl. 5086, fol. 86-90," The Babees Book, 129 (E. E. T. Soc, vol. 32 
(1868), p. 5) : 

"At none 
Whenne that ye se youre lorde to mete shall go." 

The Ballads furnish the same evidence ; compare Gest of Hobyn Hode, 
Second Fytte, stanza 143 (Gummere, Old English Ballads, 1894, p. 21) : 



Id., stanza 156 : 



"So longe abode Kobyn fastinge 
Thre houres after the none." 

" Therefore he was fastinge 
Til it was past the none." 



Now what relation did the French Nonne bear to the English None, and 
what influence did the French hours exert upon those that we have been 
studying? Almost none. Godefroy's Dictionnaire (1888) s. v. Nonne, and 
the Indexes in the Publications of the Societe" des Anciens Textes Francais 
show that Nonne had originally the meaning of " ninth hour," but that it 
appears, in the sense of Midday, in late 15th Century texts. No French 
critic has as yet fixed the times of Froissart's hours ; but they furnish no 
difficulty. I mention them with the determining references: Prime or 6 
o'clock (Chroniques, I, lxxxvii; I, ecu) ; Tiers or 9 o'clock (Chron., I, XL, 
et le quart jour jusques a heure de tierce; i, irvn; I, cclxx) ; Midi or 
Midday (i, ccxxxxi, Jusques a heure de midi) ; Grand Midi or Fully 
(Lat. plena) 12 o'clock (i, xcin, jusques a grand midi; cf. Chaucer's 
" Prime large," Brae's essay) ; Petite Nonne immediately follows Grand 
Midi (i, xeni) ; Haute Nonne or L' heure de Nonne, 2-3 o'clock (i, clxxv, 



70 PREDEEICK TUPPER, JR. 

vesperae vero representant undecimani; v, III, 139, item in 
vespera, quia tunc incipit dies finire." 1 

Many examples of the use of iEfen present themselves : 
Benedictine Rule, Gloss, xv, 45, 17, seftersang (mistake for 
asfensang) = vespera ; xvi, 46, 14 xvm, 50, 5, aefensanc = 
vespera; xvn, 47, 15, sefentidsanc = vespertina synaxis; 
xvm, 50, 18, sealmsanga sefensanga = psalmorum vesperti- 
norum ; xli, 73, 5, to sefenne = ad seram ; compare xxiv, 
56, 14 ; xli, 74, 1 (twice) ; xlii, 74, 6 ; xlviii, 82, 2 ; Id., 
Translation, xni, 38, 15, sefensang = vespertina ; xvn, 41, 
19, ]>a3S sefensanges lof = vespertina synaxis; xvm, 43, 7, se 
aefensang = vespera ; xvm, 43, 18, "Winteney," 57, 19, to 
J?am sefendreame = in vespera (cf. Grein, Sprachschatz, s. v. 
" dream ") ; xxiv, 49, 8, on sefen ; xxxix, 63, 16-17, to ]?am 
sefengifle = cenaturi; Concordia, 488, 500, 534, 592, 662, 675, 

La commenca grand assaut qui dura jusques a haute nonne (jusques aprls 
midi) ; environ heure de nonne; I, xxxix, entour heure de nonne ; I, cccvi, 
et commenca la bataille (a long battle) environ heure de tierce et dura 
jusques a haute nonne ; m, lviii, a un heure apres nonne) ; Basses Vespres 
or Before Vespers; Vespers or Evening (i, xxxv; I, xxxix, a basses ves- 
pres ; i, xlix, sur l'heure de souper ; I, ccxxxi, jusques aux vespres ; I, 
xxxvi, apres nonne sur les vespres; i, cclix, de vespres jusques a la 
nuit). Minuit, Point de jour, and Haut jour are mentioned frequently. 
Buchon (Chroniques de Froissart, 1835) puts Nonne at Midday, and Scheler 
(Oeuvres de Froissart, Brussels, 1870-1874, Glossaire, s. v. Nonne) doubts 
this but leaves the question undecided. As I have shown above the 
passages themselves settle the matter. In the Buke of John Mandeville, 
Roxburgh Club, 1889, p. 81, where the French text, MS. Harl. 4383, reads, 
"de tierce du jour jusques a basse none," the English translator (Egerton 
MS. 1982) gives, "fra undren of \>e day to it be passed none; " again, Id., 
p. 149, "du tierz de jour jusques a noune" is rendered by "fra undrun of 
be day til efter noone." The French Haute Nonne is not the original 
of High Noon (Holy Rood, 44, 308). Heah Undern is found in an Anglo- 
Saxon text (Ben. Rule, Transl., xlviii, 74, 11) as the translation of Tercia 
Plena ; and again, the French hour changed its meaning after the English. 
1 How changed was the meaning of Evening in Shakspere's day, a rather 
unquotable passage from Komeo and Juliet (n, iv, 98 sq. ; cf. Notes, Vario- 
rum Ed.) proves. To give point to Mercutio's waggery, Evening must begin 
at noon-tide. As the Century Dictionary has shown, Evening retains this 
meaning until to-day in England and the Southern United States. 



ANGLO-SAXON M3G-M.EL. 71 

930, 1017, sefen = vespera ; 388, 450, 711, 964, aefensanc = 
vespera; 1035, sefenlof — laus vespertinalis ; 400, 405, 723, 
828 (MS., sefterrseding), aefenrseding = collatio. 

This hour of the day appears frequently in non-canonical 
usage : Bede's Ecclesiastical History, I, xvin, 92, 13 ; in, I, 
156, 25 ; iv, in, 270, 35 ; iv, xxv, 346, 28 ; v, xxn, 476, 9, 
on sefenne; I, xvi, 84, 27, ser sefenne; in, vin, 180, 21, in 
sefentiid; iv, xxv, 346, 28, on sefenne J?sere neahte; v, vi, 
402, 2, o3 sefen . . . . 3a hit sefen wses ; I, I, 26, 2, swa J?set oft 
on middre nihte geflit cymeft |;am behealdendum, hwae^er hit 
si J?e aefenglommung 3e on morgen deagung = Giles, I, I, Vol. 
II, 30, 29, utrum crepusculum adhuc permaneat vespertinum 
an jam advenerit matutinum (cf. Guthlac, 1265, fram sefen- 
glome); Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, D. E. F., 979, on sefentide; 
E. 1106, 1110, on aefen; E. 1106, aelce aefen .... sumne 
sefen; E. 1118, senes sefenes; " Confessionale Ecgberti," xxx, 
Thorpe, A. L., 355, to sefenes ; Dpistola Alexandri, Basker- 
ville, Anglia, iv, 1. 294, an tid to sefenes; 523, on sefen; 
534-5, mid J?y hit sefenne neahlehte ; 537, on J>one sefen ; 
Anglo-Saxon Gospels, Matt., vin, 16, ]?a hit sefen wses = 
vespere autem facto ; Matt., xiv, 15, J>a hit wses sefen = ves- 
pere autem facto ; Matt., xvi, 2 ; Mark, xin, 35, on sefen ; 
Mark, xxv, 20, on pam sefenne; xxvin, 1, ]?am reste daeges 
sefenne; Mark, iv, 35, ]?onne sefen br<5; xv, 42, 3a sefen wses 
geworden ; Luke, xxiv, 29, sefenlaeoS = advesperascit ; Old 
Testament, Gen., I, 5, 8, 13, 19, 23, 31, and wses geworden 
sefen and mergen ; Ex., xii, 6 ; XII, 18 (twice) ; xvi, 13 ; 
xxix, 38, 41 ; Deut., xxvin, 67, on sefen ; Gen., xix, 1 ; 
Joshua, ii, 5, on aefnunge; Ex., xvi, 12, to sefen; Deut., 
xxvin, 67, sefenes; Blichling Homilies, 241, 27; 47, 18 ; 93, 
3 ; 91, 34, sefen ; 245, 10, on sefenne ; .ZElfric's Homilies, I, 
216, 25-26, ser sefenne; I, 452; n, 242, 22; n, 334, 34; n, 
348, 18 ; ii, 266, on aefnunge ; n, 350, 4, on ]?am sefenne ; 
II, 370, 1, ]>isne sefen (Eve of Festival) ; iElfric's Lives of the 
Saints, in, 259; xxm, 440, 472, on sefen; in, 583, o3 sefen; 
xi, 43, 153, on aefnunge; xix, 87, o3 aefnunge; xv, 58, on 



72 FREDERICK TUPPER, JR. 

sefentiman ; xni, 27, oft J^set hit sefnode ; xxin, 245, mid J?e 
]>e hit sefnian wolde and seo sunne sah to setle ; xxin, 449, 
to sefen ; xxin, 533, gyrstan sefen ; Assmann, Pseudo Matthaei 
Evangelium (Grein, Bibl. der A.-S. Prosa, in, in, p. 123), 
Chap, x, 1. 225, oft ftset a3fen wses; in, 196; xvin, 24-25, 
series sefenes; Wulfstan, Homilies, xxx (26), p. 151, 16, 
forftam we us nyton witoft lif set sefen, ne we nyton ]?onne 
we to ure reste goft hwsefter we moton eft dseges gebidan ; 
Leechdorns, I, 256; n, 356;.n, 28, 5, on sefen ; I, 386, selce 
sefen; II, 190, 3, sefter sefen geweorc; n, 190, 18, J?onne he 
slapan wille on aefen; n, 26, 22, on sefenne; ill, 106, 10, 
twegen sticcan fulle a sefen, twegen a morgen (h sesnung, 
Schroer, Ben. Beg., 80, 5, should be read a sefuunge) ; in, 
188, 22 [oft] asfen; in, 196, 17, oft sefen. 

The reasons for observing Evensong are many, we are in- 
formed by the Benedictine Service, Bouterwek, Ccedmon, cxc, 
CCXVIII : 

"On sefen we sculon God herian. On ]?one timan man 
offrode on J>sere ealdan se and mid recelsreocan on ]?ain temple 
J?set weofod georne weorftode Gode to iofe, and on sefen-timan 
ure dryhten offrode set his sefengereorde, and dselde his dis- 
cipulum, J>urh halig geryne, hlaf and win for his sylfes licha- 
man and for his agen blod. And on sefen-timan hit wses J?set 
Joseph Cristes lichaman of rode alinode. 

In the Evening the moon was created, and ever since in 
the Evening renews its age (Bede, 2 Leechdorns, in, 264, 25 ; 
Byrhtferft, 75, Anglia, vin, 309, 15). For example of iEfen 
and its compounds in Anglo-Saxon Poetry, compare Grein, 
Sprachschatz, and Bosworth Toller. 

^Efen as a Meal-time. 

The Glosses give good evidence that the third meal-time 
of the Anglo-Saxons was the 11th hour: Wright-Wulker, 
Vocabularies, 147, 29, sefengereord = cena ; 281, 31, sefen- 
mete=cena; Benedictine Rule, Gloss, xxxix, 71, 1, sefen- 



ANGLO-SAXON D^EG-M^L. 73 

]?enunge = cenae j 71, 3, on sefen];enungum == coenaturis ; 
xli, 74, 4, 3efen)?enunge = cene (distinction made between 
Cena and Refectio) ; xlii, 74, 10, fram sefen];enunge = a 
cena; Id., Translation, xli, 66, 7, set fam gereorde; xlii, 
66, 15, seo tid sefengereordes = tempus cenae; xxxix, 63, 
16-17, to ]?arn aefengifle = cenaturis; Concordia, 1030, sefen- 
gereord = cenaturi (?) ; 1034, sefengereord = cena ; 1030, 
aefen];enung = cena = vesperum officium (823). 

Wright in Homes of Other Days, 34, regards the time of 
the evening-meal as uncertain. Benedictine Rule, Chap, xli, 
however, declares that it must end before dark, and very much 
the same rale was enjoined by the Concordia (cf. Fosbroke, 
British Monachism, p. 30). The supper-hour of the laity was 
doubtless at the same hour. 

Other texts mention this meal : Bede's Ecclesiastical History, 
in, vni, 184, 23, sefter his a^fengereorde ; Pastoral Care, xliv, 
322, 19, underngiefl o]?]?e sefengiefl = prandium aut coenam 
(supra sub Undern); Blickling Homilies, 61, 26; 99, 22, sefen- 
gereordu; 73, 5; 142, 6, aet J?8ern sefengereordum (N. H. G. 
abendmahl). 

In the early illuminated MSS. dinner scenes are not un- 
common. JElfric's Version of Genesis, MS. Cotton Claudius, 

B. IV, fol. 36 (Wright's Homes, 34, Cut 14), represents Abra- 
ham's feast on the birth of his child. MS. Cotton Cleopatra, 

C. vni, fol. 15 (Id., 36, Cut 16), pictures " Psychomaehia 
prudentius ; " underneath the cut is written, " seo Gaines to 
hire sefengereordum sitt." Compare MS. Cott. Tiberius, C. 
IV, fol. 5 (Id., 35, Cut 15). 

In strict fasts only one meal a day was eaten ; compare 
Lives of the Saints, xx, 41 : 

" Be hire (St. iEthelthry tha) is awryten >set heo wel drohtnode 
To anum maele fsestnende butan hit freolsdseg wsere." 

Not only the examples of Saints but ecclesiastical institutes 
limited good churchmen to a single repast on fast-days; and 
this repast was at Yesper-tide, Eccl. Inst., xxxviii, Thorpe, 



74 FREDERICK TUPPER, JR. 

A. L., 486 : ©set lengten faesten man sceal mid swfye healicre 
gymene healdan swa \dst J^ser nan dseg ne sy butan sunnan- 
dagum anum J?set senig man aeniges metes bruce ser ]?sere teoftan 
tide o&Se ]>8ere twelfte." Compare Eccl. Inst, xxxix-xl, 
A. L., 486 (Sab None). 

Compline. 

The numerous examples of the word in the Century and 
the Oxford Dictionaries place beyond question the time of 
the last service of the day. That Compline fell an hour after 
Evensong in the 13th Century we know from the testimony 
of Durand {Rationale, 164, v, x, 12): "Restat ultima hora 
ad quam pertinet completorium quod notat hymnus." Three 
centuries before this the "ultima hora canonica" of Concordia, 
413, had been translated " on ytemystre tide riht gesetre." 

The canonical texts all agree in their rendering of Comple- 
torium : Benedictine Rule, Gloss, xvi, 46, 6, nihtsanges = 
completoriique ; xvn, 48, 15, nihtsang = completorium; xlii, 
67, 9, nihtsang singan (compleant) ; xvin, 44, 5 ; xlii, 67, 
11, nihtsanc = completorium ; Concordia, 407, 408, 409, 440, 
448, 662, 677, 828, 865, 925, 986, 1024, completorium = 
nihtsang. Wright- Wulker, 207, 44, completorium = gefyl- 
ling-tide should be compared with Ben. Rule, Gloss, xlii, 
75, 5, compleant = gefyllan. 

Completorium had, however, other Anglo-Saxon equiva- 
lents : Bede, Eccl. Hist, II, IX, 126, 31, ]?a eode he to his 
inne J>8er he hine restan wolde — wses foreweard niht; v, xin, 
422, 28, In forewearde neaht ; iElfric, Homilies, n, 184, 26, 
o$ for$ nihtes ; Leechdoms, I, 88, On forannihte ; Blickling 
Homilies, 47, 19, completorium = sixtan stye on niht ser he 
rseste; Benedictine Service, Bouterwek, ccxviii, forannihtsang 
= completorium ; compare xvi, 46, 14; xvin, 51, 2; xm, 
75, 6 ; Id., Translation, xvn, 41, 14, nihtsang, de completorio : 
" On foranniht we sculon God herian aer we to bedde gan and 
gemunan ]>set Crist on byrgene neah forannihte bebyrged weard " 
(cf . Mark, xv, 42, " et jam sero facto, etc." In Wright- Wulker, 



ANGLO-SAXON D^G-MiEL. 75 

175, sero = bed-tid). When the young monk is asked (Wright- 
Wiilker, 102j, "hwaenne wylle ge syngan aefen o"33e nihtsang 
(completoriuni) ? " he does not help us much by his answer, 
"J?onne hit tyma brbV' 

The examples in the last paragraph indicate that the Anglo- 
Saxons retired at Completorium. That this was the procedure 
of the monks, Ben. Rule, xlii, indicates. Bouterwek, in his 
note on the word (Ccedmon, cxciii), shows that Compline was 
said in the dormitory and cites Chrodegang's Rule, xxiii, to 
prove that after it the greatest silence was to be observed. 
In the full description of the service, in the Concordia, we 
have further evidence that the friars sang the Compline before 
dark, and went early to their beds. 

Conticinium and Intempesta Nox. 

Although Conticinium and Intempesta Nox are not Canoni- 
cal Hours, no study of the Anglo-Saxon Day can be complete 
without an understanding of their position and meaning. 

Conticinium held a definite position as one of the divisions 
of the night. It is the time of the first Hancred (supra s. v.), 
the hour, " ]?onne ealle ];iug sweowiaft on hyra reste " (Bede, 2 
Leechdoms, in, 240), and the period of the " first sleep : " 
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, E. 1131, set J>e forme sleep; Daniel, 
108, on frumslsepe; compare Du Cange, Glossarium and Gode- 
froy s. v. Primsomne. 1 

Conticinium falls near the times mentioned in the Epistola 
Alexandri (Baskerville) : 1. 312, Da wses seo J?ridde tid J?sere 
nihte J?a wolde we us gerestan * 333, ]?a hit wses seo fifte tid 
]?sere niht ]?a mynton we us gerestan. 

The glosses furnish us with translations of Conticinium : 

C Cwyltid 
Wright- Wiilker, 117, 9, Conticinium = I or 

I Gebedgiht. 

lr rhi8 recalls Shelley's, "the first sweet sleep of night" (Lines to an 
Indian Air). 



76 FREDERICK TUPPER, JR. 

Wright- Wiilker, 211, 41, Conticinium = Cwyldtid vel 

Swegnes. 
Mone B. (Q. F.) 3747, Conticinium = Cwylseten. 

a a a 3743^ Conticinio = Cwylsetene. 

" " " 4677, Galli Cantu = Cwyldsetene. 
New Aldhelm *\ 

Glosses (Logeman, V Conticinio = Cwyldsene (cf. Note). 
Anglia, xin, 35), 205 J 

Grimm, Teutonic Mythology (Stallybrass), n, 739 notes : 
" Old Norse and Anglo-Saxon distinguish between two 
periods of the evening, an earlier, ' aptan/ ' sefen/ ' vespera ' 
and a later, l queld/ ' cwild/ ' condcmnim.' " Grimm derives 
" cwild " from " cwellan " and explains it rightly by the fall- 
ing or felling of the day or still better by a deadlike hush of 
night. His translation of "cwildrofu eodon on laSra last" 
(Ccedmon, 1. 151) by " (belluae) vesperi famosae ibant in ves- 
tigia malorum " seems however a little forced. 

The best definition or translation of the word is in the 
words of ByrhtferS, 124, Anglia, vni, 319: "Conticinium 
ys switima oSSe salnyssa timan " {supra). 

Bede, 2 Cockayne, Leechdoms, in, 240, puts Intempesta Nox 
as the fourth division of the night ; it is glossed by Midniht, 
Wright-Wulker, 175, and ByrhtferS, 124, Anglia, vin, 319, 
calls it " unworclic tima." It might also be characterized 
by an expression found in Bede's Eccl. Hist, n, vi, 114, 16, 
J^sere deahlan neahte = secretae noctis. The period is well 
described by Bede, De Orthographia (Giles, vi, 17): " Intem- 
pesta nox est media nox, quando quiescendum hinc utique 
dicta quia inopportuna est actioni vigilantiurn." 

Midnight holds an interesting place in Anglo-Saxon creeds ; 
compare ByrhtferS, Anglia, vin, 307, 10 : 

" Eac he cwseS ]?8Bt middaneard waere gesceapen on middere 
niht, J?set he eft sceal beon on middere niht toworpen and we 
gelyfaS J?set hit swa mseg beon forSam cwyde J?e god selmihtig 
cwseS on middere niht wses mycel hream geworden. Nu cymS 
se brydguma, ]?8et ys Crist, to dome." 



ANGLO-SAXON DJEG-M^L. 77 

I give a few examples of the word in the prose texts : 
Bede's Eccl. Hist, n, ix, 128, 15, on midre niht (Giles, n, 
224, 10, intempestae noctis silentio); in, 1, 156, 30, set middre 
neahte; iv, x, 286, 12, on midde neaht; iv, xxv, 346, 34, 
ofer midde neahte; Anglo-Saxon Gospels, Matt., xxv, 6, to 
middere niht; Mark, xiii, 35, on midre nihte; Old Testament, 
Ex. XI, 4, to middre nihte = media nocte ; Ex. XII, 29, to 
middre nihte = in noctis medio ; Judges, xvi, 3, to midre 
nihte = ad medium noctis ; iElfric's Homilies, I, 226, 28 ; II, 
568, 3, 16, 17, 20, on midre niht; I, 246, 33; n, 518, 24, 
on middere niht ; n, 336, 2, on ];a3re briddan nihte middan ; 
Lives of the Saints, v, 469 ; xi, 120 ; XV, 60, on middere 
niht ; Vin, 131, on middre niht; XI, 44, oft midde niht. 1 



Chapter II. 
The Rubrics to the Anglo-Saxon Gospels. 

pa \>e se hring ealles geares in weorftunge symbeldaga absedde eac swilce 
Btafum awrat and on bee gesette (Bede, Eccl. Hist, iv, xx, 314, 22). 

As I have already said in my general introduction, my aim 
in this chapter is to present in Calendar form the Rubrics of 
the Anglo-Saxon Gospels, and to trace, by a comparative 
study of other liturgies, the connection between text and date 
from the early days of the Church until our own time. 

The study is so attractive that I feared anticipation from 
the "inevitable German ;" and my apprehensions were in part 

1 The other hours have been mentioned for the most part in connection 
with the Hours of the Canons ; yet a few occurrences remain to be noted : 
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, D. E. 800, on )>sere oftre tid on niht; F. 809, on 
angynne ftare fifte tide ftas dagas ; A. B. D. 879, C. 880, ane tid dseges ; 
Eccl. Hist, in, xix, 240, 22, ymb J>a teogftan tid dseges (Giles, n, 380, 13, 
hora circiter decima diei; G. translates wrongly, "about 10 o'clock in the 
morning"); iv, xxxm, 382, 34, seo aftere tid dseges; Epistola Alexandri, 
Baskerville, 223, 269, seo eahto^e tid dseges; 253, 254, 488, 489, sio endlefte 
tid dseges. 



78 FREDERICK TUPPER, JR. 

realized. In this case, however, the disturber of hopes was a 
scholar of the first half of the last century. When my work 
was in its present form, I discovered that a Calendar of Rubrics 
had been made with admirable correctness by Schilter {Thesau- 
rus Antiquitatum Teutonicarum, Ulmae, 1728, Vol. I, Part n, 
63-69) from Marshall's Edition of the Gospels. As his work 
is accessible only to a few, and as his Tables do not trace the 
history of the Rubrics, the value of an independent tabulation 
is, however, not diminished. 

Hampson has printed (MediiAevi Kalendarium, i) a number 
of Anglo-Saxon Calendars and has discussed them at length, 
while Piper (Kalendarien ; see Bibliography) has studied the 
same subject most carefully. Marshall in his Notes to the 
Rubrics [Gospels, 1684, pp. 508-538) and Bouterwek in 
Calendcwide (Bibliography) have collected much valuable 
material. In my Notes I have gathered a few " screadunga," 
hitherto overlooked. Of these crumbs I need say no more, 
as the work of the annotator is explanatory of itself. 

To speak now of details. The Rubrics are contained in 
the Cambridge MS., Ii 2, 11, of the Gospels (A), which 
Skeat (Preface to Mark, vn) assigns to the locality of Exeter 
and dates about 1050 A. D. Into an older MS. (B) the 
Bodley NE. F., 3, 15 (now Bodley 441), a number of the A. 
Rubrics were inserted during the time of Archbishop Parker 
(Skeat, 1. c). A few both of A. and of B. Rubrics were omitted 
by Marshall — although he used both MSS. — and, therefore, 
have no place in Schilter's Calendar. The tables of lessons 
in the Lindisfarne MS. (Nero D. 4) — i. e., the prefatory 
Capitula — are "left obscure owing to the lack of prefixed 
numbers" (Skeat); text and date are never connected. These 
have been drawn upon in my Notes, when they can furnish 
help. Bouterwek printed this material in his Screadunga 
(1858), 1-4. 

Now, the key to the information furnished by my Tables. 
I explain first the abbreviations : C. = Liber Comitis of St. 
Jerome (Hieronymus), 420 A. D. (M. P. L., 30, 503- 



ANGLO-SAXON D^G-MiEL. 79 

M8); 1 G. = Homilies of Gregory, 590 A. D. (M. P. Z., 
76) ; B. = Homilies of Bede (Giles, Works of JBede f Y6l, v); 
A. = Homilies of ^Elfric (Thorpe, 2 vols.) ; Bl. Horn. = 
Blickling Homilies (Morris) ; K. = Old Kentish Sermons 
(K K T. Soc, 49 (1872), 26 ff.) ; W. = Sermons of Wycliffe 
(Thomas Arnold, Oxford, 1869, 3 vols.); O. G. = Old 
German Sermons (Wackernagel, Basel, 1876); S. Y. H. = 
Salisbury, York, and Hereford Usage (Sarum Missal in Eng- 
lish, London, 1868, Appendix B, p. 605, cited Blunt, Annotated 
Prayer Booh) ; P. E. = Protestant Episcopal ; R. = Roman ; 
E. = Eastern ; L. = Lutheran. The numbers to the right of 
G, B, O. G, W, above the line, indicate the number of the 
Homily or Sermon ; A. and Bl. Horn, are cited usually by 
number of Homily, sometimes by page; in other cases the 
dates furnish sufficient reference. 

When no text follows the letters cited, let it be understood 
that the text is that of the Anglo-Saxon Rubric. For the 
sake of clearness I explain in full two of the dates. Under 
January 1 the letters C; B 22 ; A., I, vi; etc., show that the text 
for New Year's Day in all of those liturgies is that of our 
Anglo-Saxon Rubric, Luke, n, 21 ; here the Luke, n, 15-21 
of the P. E. service, as indicated in the Table, proves an 
exception. Again, under February 11, all liturgies have for 
Quadragesima Sunday the text of the Anglo-Saxon Halgan 
Dseg, Matt., iv, 1. A slight lack of correspondence is often 
indicated in the Table. 

It will thus be seen that my purpose is a far-reaching one : 
to show, by clear tabulation, the vitality of the Evangelarium, 
and the persistence of many of the earliest of Church lessons ; 
to explain how, after centuries of life, certain Gospels dis- 
appeared from the services of Feast and Fast ; and finally to 
give the proper historical value to Anglo-Saxon Rubric and 
to Modern text. If my statistics succeed in this, they will 

1 Tnis is very important, as it contains the first arrangement of Gospels ; 
but it is hard to compare, as it reckons by fixed fasts, particularly after 
June 29th. 



80 FREDERICK TUPPER, JR. 

seem to me an 'I%#u9, full of a suggestiveness far transcend- 
ing its literal meaning. 

Rubrics to the Anglo-Saxon Gospels. 1 

Dec. 24.— Midwinter Mass-even, Matt., i, 1 8. C;B 5fl ;¥ a) ; 
E (Christmas Day). 

Dec. 25. — Midwinter Mass-night for the first Mass, Luke, ii, 
1 . C ; G 8 ; B * In Galli Cantu Nat. Dom ; B 45 , 
In Aurora, Luke, n, 15; B 46 , Ad summam mis- 
sam, John, I, 21 ; A., I, ii; W 90 ; R, Midnight ; L. 

Dec. 26.— St. Stephen's Mass-day, Matt., xxin, 34. C ; W 9L ; 
RE; R. 

Dec. 27. — St. John the Evangelist's Mass-day, John, xxi, 
19. C ; B 35 ; W 92 , John, xxi, 15 ; E ; P. E ; R. 

Dec. 28.— Cilda Ma3sse-da3g, Matt., n, 13. C; B 36 ; A., I, 

V, Matt., II, 1-15; E; P. E ; R. 

Dec. 31. — Mass-day of St. Sylvester and other Confessors, 

Mait., xxv, 14. C; G 9 , Matt., xxv, 14-30. 
Dec. 31. — Sunday between Midwinter's Mass-day and 12th 

Day, Luke, II, 33. W 94 , 6th day after Christmas ; 

R; L. 
Jan. 1. — 8th Mass-day to Midwinter, Luke, n, 21. C; 

B 22 ; A., I, vi; W 95 , New Year's Day; E; R; 

P. E, Luke, ii, 15-21 ; L. 
Jan. 5.— 12th Even, Matt., ii, 19. C; W 46 , Vigil of 

Epiphany. 
Jan. 6.— 12th Day, Matt., n, 1. C; G 10 ; B 37 (John, I, 

29 ; Matt., ill, 13 ; Mark, I, 9 ; Luke, in, 21) ; 

A., I, vil ; K; W 97 ; O. G xv ; P. E ; R; L; 
Jan. 10.— Wednesday after 12th Day, Matt., in, 13. S. and 

H, Octave of Epiphany. 
Jan. 12.— Friday after 12th Day, Matt., rv, 12. Y; H. 
Jan. 12. — Friday, 1st Week after Epiphania Domini, John, 

VI, 27. 

1 Easter has been placed at March 25. 



ANGLO-SAXON D^G-M^L. 81 

Jan. 13. — Bys gebyraft on ]?one vin daBg Godes iEtywed- 

nysse, John, I, 29. C; B 23 (John, I, 29; Matt., 

in, 13 ; Mark, I, 9 ; Luke, in, 21) ; W 30 , Sunday 

in Octaves of Epiphany. 
Jan. 14. — Sunday, 2nd Week after Epiphany, John, n, 1. 

C; B 18 ; A., II, iv; K; W 33 ; P. E; R; L. 
Jan. 21. — 3rd Sunday after Epiphany, Matt., vn, 28. C, 

A., i, vin, W 34 , K, P. E, R, and L = Matt., villi 
Jan. 21.— St. Agnes's Mass, Matt., xm, 44. G 11 " 12 , Matt., 

xin, 41-52, xxv, 1. . 
Jan. 21. — Dys sceal on j;one Sunnandseg ]?e man bely<rS Alle- 
luia, Matt., xx, 1 . Septuagesima Sunday, C ; G J9 ; 

A., II, v; W 37 ; P. E; R; L. 
Jan. 26.— Friday, 3rd Week after 12th Day, Matt., IV, 23. 

W 137 ; S, 3rd Friday after Oct. Ep. 
Jan. 28.— 4th Sunday after 12th Day, Matt., vm, 23. C ; 

W 35 ; K; P.E; R; L. 
Jan. 28. — Bis sceal on J?sere wucan sefter J?am J?e man belycS 

Alleluia, Mark, iv, 3. C; A., n, vi. G 15 , W 38 , 

P. E, R and L, Luke, vm, 4. All, Sexagesima 

Sunday. 
Jan. 31 .—Wednesday, 4th Week after 12th Day, Matt., vin, 

19. W 138 andS, Luke, ix, 57. 
Feb. 2. — After the days of "Purgatio Mariae" are com- 
plete, Luke, II, 22. C; A., I, IX; B 24 ; W", 

Candlemasday ; E ; P. E ; R. 
Feb. 4. — Sunnandseg ser Halgan Dsege, Mark, x, 46. A., 

i, x, Mark, x, 46. C, G, Bl. Horn, 15, W 39 , P. 

E, R, and L = Luke, xvm, 31-44. All, Quin- 

quagesima Sunday. 
Feb. 7. — To "Caput Jejunii" on Wednesday, Matt., vi, 16. 

C; W 145 ; P.E; R; L. 
Feb. 9.— Friday in " Cys-wucan," Matt., v, 43. C and 

W 46 , Friday in Quinquagesima. 
Feb. 10. — Saturday before "Halgan Dseg," Mark, VI, 45. 

C, Mark, vi, 47 ; W 147 . 
6 



82 JFREDERICK TTTPPER, JR. 

Feb. 11. — Halgan Dseg, Matt., iv, 1. Quadragesimia Sun- 
day, C; G 16 ; A., I, xv; Bl. Horn, 27; W 40 ; P. 
E ; R ; L. 

Feb. 12. — Monandseg on forman fsestendseg, Matt., xxv, 31. 
C; W 148 ; B 53 , John, n, 12. 

Feb. 14. — Wednesday, 1st Lenten Week, Matt., xii, 38. C; 
W 150 . 

Feb. 15.— 1st Thursday in Lent, Matt., xv, 21. 

Feb. 16.— Friday, 1st Lenten Week, John, v, 1. C; B 54 ; 
W 152 . 

Feb. 17.— Saturday, 1st Lenten Week, Matt,, xvi, 28. C, 
Matt., xvn, 1 ; W 153 , Matt., xvi, 1. 

Feb. 17. — Sseterndseg on J?aere forman fsesten wucan, Mark, 
ix, 2. 

Feb. 19.— Monday, 2nd Lenten Week, John, vm, 21. C; 
W 154 . 

Feb. 21.— Wednesday, 2nd Lenten Week, Matt., xx, 17. 
W 156 . 

Feb. 22.— Thursday, 2nd Lenten Week, John, v, 30. C ; 
W 157 . 

Feb. 23.— Friday, 2nd Lenten Week, Matt., xxi, 33. C ; 
W 158 . 

Feb. 24. — Saturday, 2nd Lenten Week, Luke, xv, 11. C; 
W 159 . 

Feb. 25. — 3rd Sunday in Lent, Luke, xi, 14; Matt., xn, 
22. C, W 42 , P. E, R, L = Luke, xi, 14; B 19 
(Luke, xi, 14; Matt., ix, 32; Mark, in, 22); 
B 52 , John, vm, 1. 

Feb. 27.— Tuesday, 3rd Lenten Week, Matt., xviii, 15. 
W 161 . * 

Feb. 28.— 3rd Wednesday in Lent, Matt,, xv, 1. C; W 162 . 

Feb. 28.— Wednesday, 3rd Lenten Week, Mark, vn, 1. 

Mar. 1. — 3rd Thursday in Lent (and to Pentecost on Satur- 
day), Luke, IV, 38. C and W 163 , John, vi, 27. 

Mar. 2. — Friday, 3rd Lenten Week, John, iv, 6. C, John, 
IV, 6; W 164 , John, iv, 4. 



ANGLO-SAXON D^G-M^L. 83 

Mar. 3. — One day before Myd-fsesten, John, vni, 1. W 165 . 
Mar. 4. — Mid-lenten Sunday, John, vi, 1. C; B 20 ; A., I, 

XII; W 43 ; RE; R ; L. 
Mar. 5. — Monday, 4th Lenten Week, John, II, 12. C; 

W 166 . 
Mar. 6. — Tuesday, Mid-lenten Week, John, vn, 14. C; 

W 167 . 
Mar. 7. — Wednesday, " Myd-fsestene wucan," John, ix, 1. 

. C;W 168 . 
Mar. 8. — Thursday, 4th Lenten Week, John, v, 17. C; 

W 169 . 
Mar. 9.— Friday, " Myd-fa3stene wucan," John, xi, 1. C; 

W 170 . 
Mar. 10. — Saturday, " Myd-fa3stene wucan," John, vni, 12. 

C; W 171 . 
Mar. 11. — Sunday, 5th Week in Lent, John, vni, 46. C; 

G 18 , Dominica in Passione; W 44 ; P. E; E; L. 
Mar. 12. — Monday, 5th Week in Lent, John, vn, 32. C ; 

W 172 . 
Mar. 12. — St. Gregory's Mass-day, Luke, xix, 12. 
Mar. 13. — Tuesday, 5th Week in Lent, John, vn, 1. C; 

W 173 . 
Mar. 14. — Wednesday, 5th Lenten Week and "to Cyric- 

halgungum," John, x, 22. First date, C, W 174 . 

Dedicatio Ecclesiae, B 42 (Luke, vi, 42; Matt., 

vn, 18); W 133 , Luke, xix, 1. 
Mar. 15.— Thursday, 5th Lenten Week, John, vn, 40. W 175 . 
Mar. 16. — Two days before Palm Sunday, John, xi, 47. C ; 

W 176 ; Assmann, in, 67. 
Mar. 17. — One day before Palm Sunday, John, vi, 53. C; 

W 177 . 
Mar. 18. — Palm Sunday, Matt., xxvi, 2. C, Matt., xxvi, 

2; W 45 , Matt., xxvn, 62; P. E, Matt., xxvn, 

1-54; R, Matt., xxvii, xxviii. 
Mar. 18.—- (4 weeks before Midwinter) and Palm Sunday, 

Luke, xix, 29. A., i, xiv ; n, xiv. 



84 FREDERICK TUPPER, JR. 

Mar. 19.— Monday, Palm Week, John, xn, 1. C; B 48 ; W 178 , 

J., xn, 4; S; Y; H; K; L; P. E, Mark, xiv, 

1-72. 
Mar. 20. — Tuesday, Palm Week, Mark, xv, 1 ; John, xn, 

24. First text, R, P. E ; second text, C, L. 
Mar. 21. — (St. Paul's Mass-day) and St. Benedict's, Matt., 

xix, 27. B 25 (Matt., xix, 27; Mark, vm, 27; 

Luke, ix, 18). 
Mar. 21. — Wednesday, Palm Week, Luke, xxn, 1. C ; P. 

E ; R ; L, Luke, xxn, 1-xxm, 42. 
Mar. 22. — Thursday before Easter, John, xiii, 1. C; B 59 , 

In Cena Domini; Assmann, in, xin; O. G XTm ; 

B ; L ; W 179 , John, xvin, 1 ; P. E, Luke, xxm, 

1-49. 
Mar. 23. — £>is Passio gebyraft on Langa Frige-dseg, John, 

xviii, 1. C, B, and L = John, xvin, 1-xix, 

42; W 180 , J., xvin ult. and xix; P. E, John, 

xix, 1-37. 
Mar. 24.— Easter Even, Matt., xxvin, 1. C; B 4 (Matt., 

xxvih, 1 ; Luke, xxrv, 1 ; John, xx, 1) ; W 181 ; 

R; E; P. E, Matt., xxvn, 57-66. 
Mar. 25.— Easter Day, Mark, xv, 47, xvi. C; G 21 , Matt, 

xvi, 1-17 ; A., I, xv, Matt., xxvi, 62 sq. ; W 46 , 

Matt., xxvin, 1 ; B and L, Mark, xvi, 1-7 ; P. 

E, John, xx, 1-10. 
Mar. 26.— 2nd Easter Day, Luke, xxiv, 13. C; G 28 ; A., 

II, xvi; W 182 ; P. E; R; L. 
Mar. 27.— 3rd Easter Day, Luke, xxiv, 36. C ; P. E ; R ; 

B 5 (Luke, xxiv, 36; John, xx, 19). 
Mar. 28.— Wednesday, Easter Week, John, xxi, 1 . C ; G u ; 

A., ii, xvn ; W 184 . 
Mar. 29.— Thursday, Easter Week, John, xx, 11. C; G 25 ; 

W 185 . 
Mar. 30.— Friday, Easter Week, Matt., xxvin, 16. C; B 6 ; 

W 186 . 
Mar. 31.— Saturday, Easter Week, John, xx, 1. G 23 ; W 187 . 



ANGLO-SAXON DJEG-M^L. 85 

April 1. — Seven nights after Easter, John, xx, 19. C, Satur- 
day, Easter Week; G 26 , In Octavis Paschae; A., 

i, xvi ; W 47 ; P. E; E; L. 
April 4. — Wednesday, 2nd Easter Week, Matt., ix, 14; 

Matt., xxviii, 8. First text, W 191 ; second text, 

C, S, Y, H. 
April 8. — Sunday, two weeks after Easter, John, xvi, 16. 

C, Dom. ii post Oct. Pas. ; B 1 . 
April 8. — Sunday, fourteen nights after (uppan) Easter, 

John, x, 11. C; G 14 , John, x, 11-16; A., I, 

xvn; W 48 ; P. E; E; L. 
April 18. — Wednesday, 3rd week after Easter, John, in, 25. 
April 22. — Sunday, 4th week after Easter, John, xvi, 5. C, 

Dom. in post Oct. Pasch. ; B 2 , 3rd Sunday after 

Easter; W 50 ; P. E; E; L. 
April 22.— 4th Sunday after Easter, John, xvi, 23. B 3 ; 

W 51 , P. E, E, and L = 5th Sunday after 

Easter. 
April 25. — Wednesday, 4th week after Easter, John, xvn, 

11. W 194 ; S; Y; H. 
April 27. — Friday, 4th week after Easter, John, xiii, 33. S; 

Y;H. 
April 28. — Mass of St. Yitalis, John, xv, 1. 
May 1. — Mass of Philip and James, John, xiv, 1. A., n, 

xiii (no part Gospel) ; W 103 ; P. E ; E. 
April 30-May 2.— To Gangdagon, Matt., vn, 7. 
April 30-May 1. — To Gangdagon ]?sege twegen dagas, Luke, 

XI, 5. B 7 , In Letania Majore et Minore (Luke, 

xi, 5 ; Matt., vn) ; B 66 , In Let. Maj., Luke, xi, 

9; A., i, xix, Tuesday, Let. Maj., Luke, xi, 2; 

compare A., n, xxi, xxn, xxin, no text ; S. 
May 2. — On Wodnesdseg on j?aere Gang-wucan to J>am vigi- 

lian, John, xvn, 1. C; A., n, xxv; W 197 . 
May 3. — Thursday within Gang-week, Mark, xvi, 14. C ; 

G 29 , In Ascensio Domini; B 57 , Luke, xxrv, 44; 

O. G" v , John, in, 16; W 104 ; P. E; E; L. 



B6 FREDERICK TUPPER, JR:. 

May 6.— Sunday after "Ascensio Domini," John, xv, 26. 

C; W 52 ; RE; R; L. 
May 9. — Wednesday after "Ascensio Domini," John, xv, 7. 
May 12.- — Pentecost Mass-even, John, xiv, 15. C; B 9 , In 

festo S. Pent. ; P. E, Whit-sunday, John, XIV, 1 5- 

31 ; W 199 , Vigil of Whit-sunday. 
May 1 3.— Pentecost Mass-day, John, xiv, 23. C ; G 30 ; W 53 ; 

R; L. 
May 14.— 2nd Mass-day in Pentecost, John, in, 16. C ; W 200 ; 

P. E; R. 
May 15.— Tuesday, Pentecost Week, John, x, 1. C;W 201 ; 

P. E; R. 
May 16. — Wednesday, Pentecost Week "to J?am ymbrene," 

Luke, ix, 1 2 ; John, vi, 44. Second text, C, W m . 
May 17.— Thursday, Pentecost Week, Luke, ix, 1. C ; W 203 . 
May 18.— Friday, Pentecost Week, Luke, v, 17. C; W 204 . 
May 18. — Friday, Pentecost Week " to fam ymbrene," Luke, 

xviii, 40. 
May 19. — Saturday, Pentecost Week " to ]?am ymbrene," 

Matt., xx, 19. 
$VEay, 19. — (3rd Thursday in Lent) and to Pentecost on Satur- 
day, Luke, iv, 38. C and W 205 , Trinity Eve. 
May 20. — (Over Easter " be ]>sere rode ") and 1st Sunday 

after Pentecost, John, in, 1. C; W 54 ; P. E; L; 

R, Matt., xxvin, 18 ; all but C, Trinity Sunday. 
May 23. — Wednesday after Pentecost, Luke, xx, 27. 
May 25. — Friday after Pentecost, Luke, xn, 11. C. 
May 27.— 2nd Sunday after Pentecost, Luke, xvi, 19. G 40 ; 

C; A.,i,xxiii; W 1 ; P.E; L; G 36 and R, Luke, 

xiv, 16-24. 
May 30.— 2nd Wednesday after Pentecost, Matt., v, 17. C ; 

W 207 , 1st Wednesday after Corpus Christi; S, Y 

and H, Wednesday after Trinity. 
June 1. — 2nd Friday after Pentecost, Luke, xvn, 1. Y. 
June 3. — 3rd Sunday after Pentecost, Luke, xiv, 16. G^and 

R, Luke, xv, 1-10; A., n, xxvi; W 2 ; P. E; L. 



ANGLO-SAXON MJG-M^L. 87 

June 6. — Wednesday, 3rd Week after Pentecost, Matt., v, 

25. W 209 , 3rd Wednesday after Corpus Christi. 
June 10. — 4th Sunday after Pentecost, Matt., v, 20; VII, 1 ; 

Luke, xv, 1. C; A., I, xxiv; W 3 ; P. E; R; 

L. All, Luke, xv, 1. 
June 15. — 4th Friday after Pentecost, Mark, xi, 11. Y. 
June 17. — 5th Sunday after Pentecost, Luke, xvi, 36. C ; 

W 4 ; P. E; L; A., n, xxix, Luke, viii, 1 ; R, 

Matt., v, 20. 
June 20. — Wednesday, 5th Week after Pentecost, Matt., xxi, 

23. W 211 , 5th Wednesday after Trinity, Luke, 

viii, 22. 
June 22. — Friday, 5th Week after Pentecost, Matt., xvn, 

10. S, 4th Wednesday after Trinity. 
June 23. — Midsummer Mass-even, Luke, I, 1. C, Vigil of 

St. John Baptist, Luke, I, 5; B 39 , W 105 , Bl. 

Horn., xiv, A., i, xxv = Nativity of St. John 

Baptist. 
June 24. — Midsummer Mass-day, Luke, i, 57. C, viii Kal. 

Jul; B 29 (Matt, xiv, 1; Mark, xvi, 14; Luke, 

IX, 7); B 32 ; W 106 ; E; P. E; E. 
June 24. — 6th Sunday after Pentecost, Luke, V, 1. C; B 10 ; 

W 6 ; P. E; L; R, Mark, vm, 1. 
June 27. — Wednesday, 6th Week after Pentecost, Matt., XI, 

25. W 212 , Mark, x, 17. 
June 29.— Friday, 6th Week after Pentecost, Matt., x, 13. 
June 28. — St. Peter's Mass-even, John, xxi, 15. C, B 26 , 

and W 107 , Vigils of Peter and Paul. 
June 29. — St. Peter's Mass-day, Mark, viii, 27; Matt., xvi, 

13. C, A., i, xxvi, E, P. E, and R, Matt., xvi, 

13; B 27 (Matt., xvi, 13; Mark, vm, 27; Luke, 

ix, 8). 
June 30 (29).— St. Paul's Mass-day (and St. Benedict's), Matt., 

xix, 27. A., i, xxvii. 
July 1.— 7th Week after Pentecost, Matt., v, 20. W 6 ; P. 

E; R, Matt., vn, 15. 



88 FREDERICK TUPPER, JR. 

July 4. — Wednesday, 7th Week after Pentecost, Mark, x, 

17. S; Y; H; W 213 , Matt., xn. 
July 6. — Friday, 7th Week after Pentecost, Mark, v, 1. 

Y;H. 
July 6.— In Qctavas Petri et Pauli, Matt., xiv, 22. W 110 . 
July 8. — 8th Week after Pentecost, Matt., xv, 32 ; Mark, 

vm, 1. Both texts, B 11 ; second text,W 7 , P. E, 

and L. 
July 11. — Wednesday, 8th Week after Pentecost, Matt., xvi, 

1. Y, 7th Wednesday after Trinity. 
July 13. — Friday, 8th Week after Pentecost, Matt., xn, 1. 

Y;H. 
July 15. — 9th Week after Pentecost, Matt., vn, 15. A., n, 

xxx; W 8 ; P. E; L. 
July 18. — Wednesday, 9th Week after Pentecost, Mark, 

ix, 38. S; Y; H; W 214 , 8th Wednesday after 

Trinity. 
July 20. — Friday, 9th Week after Pentecost, Matt., xxm, 

13. Y; H. 
July 22.— 10th Week after Pentecost, Luke, xvi, 10. W 215 , 

S, Y, and H, 9th Wednesday after Trinity. 
July 27.— Friday, 10th Week after Pentecost, Luke, xi, 37. 
July 29. — 11th Week after Pentecost, Luke, xvin, 10; xix, 

41. First text, O. G xxxvm ; second text, A., I, 

xxvin, W 10 , P. E, and L; K, Mark, vn, 31. 
Aug. 1. — Wednesday, 11th Week after Pentecost, Luke, 

xxi, 20. Y; H. 
Aug. 3. — Friday, 11th Week after Pentecost, Luke, xxi, 34. 

Y;H. 
Aug. 8. — Wednesday, 12th Week after Pentecost, Matt., 

xn, 30. H. 
JLug. 10.— Friday, 12th Week after Pentecost, Mark, xn, 28. 
Aug. 10. — St. Lawrence's Massday, Matt., xvi, 24. 
Aug. 12.— 13th Week after Pentecost, Mark, vn, 31. C, 2nd 

Sunday after St. Lawrence; B 38 ; W 12 ; P. E; L; 

K, Luke, xvn, .11. 



ANGLO-SAXON DJ3G-MJEL. 89 

Aug. 15. — Assumption of Virgin Mary (and Saturdays "be 

Maria"), Luke, X, 38. C; A., n, xxxiv; W 114 ; 

O. G. vm ; R. 
Aug. 19.— 14th Week after Pentecost, Luke, x, 23. C, 3rd 

Sunday after St. Lawrence; O. G. XIX ; W 13 ; P. 

E; L; B 12 , Matt., xv; R ? Matt., vi, 24-33. 
Aug, 22. — Wednesday, 14th Week after Pentecost, Matt., 

xii, 14. W 218 , 13th Wednesday after Trinity; S; 

Y;H. 
Aug. 28. — Mass of St. Augustine and St. Hermes, Luke, 

xiv, 25. 
Aug. 29. — " Innan hserfeste " at St. John's Mass, Mark, vi, 

17. W 116 , Beheading of St. John Baptist. 
Aug. 29. — Wednesday, 15th Week after Pentecost, Mark, i, 

40. 
Sept. 2. — 16th Week after Pentecost, Luke, xvn, 11. A., 

II, xxxvi. 
Sept. 2.— 16th Sunday after Pentecost, Matt., vi, 24. W 19 ; 

P. E; L; R, Luke, xiv, 1-11. 
Sept. 5. — Wednesday, 1 6th Week after Pentecost (and Friday 

in " Cys-wucan "), Matt., v, 31, 43. 
Sept. 9. — 17th Sunday after Pentecost, Luke, vii, 11. B 14 ; 

A., I, xxxni ; W 16 ; P. E; L; R, Matt., xxii, 

35. 
Sept. 12. — Wednesday at the Fast before Harvest Equinox, 

Matt., xvn, 14. 
Sept. 12. — To the Embers within Harvest on Wednesday, 

Mark, ix, 17. W 230 . 
Sept. 14. — -To the Embers within Harvest on Friday, Luke, 

vn, 36. G^W 231 . 
Sept. 1 5. — To the Embers within Harvest on Saturday, Luke, 

xin, 6. G 31 ;W 232 . 
Sept. 20.— St. Matthew's Mass-even, Matt, ix, 9. B 30 (Matt., 

ix, 9 ; Mark, n, 14; Luke, v, 27), A., n, xxxvn; 

W 119 , Vigil, Luke, v, 27; W 120 , Mass-day; E; P. 

E; R. 



90 .FREDERICK TUPPER, JR. 

Sept. 23.— 19th Week after Pentecost, Luke, xiv, 1. P. E; 

W 15 and L, Matt., xxn, 34-46 ; E, Matt., xxn, 

1-14. 
Sept. 29.— St. Michael's Mass-day, Matt., xviii, 1. A., I, 

xxxrv, p. 510 ; W 121 ; P. E ; K. 
Sept. 30. — Sunday, 20th Week after Pentecost, Matt., IX, 1. 

W 19 ; P. E; L; E, John, iv, 46. 
Oct. 7. — After Pentecost on 21st Week on Sunday, John, 

iv, 46. A., i, xxxv, W 20 , P. E, and L, Matt., 

xxn, 1 j E, Matt., xviii, 23-35. 
Oct. 19. — Friday, 22nd Week after Pentecost, Matt., vin, 

14. Y. 

Oct. 21.— 23rd Week after Pentecost, Matt., xviii, 23 ; xxn, 

15. W 22 , P. E, and L, Matt., xviii, 23; E, Matt., 
ix, 18-26. 

Nov. 1. — All Saints' Mass, Matt., v, 1. A., i, xxxvi, p. 
548 . W i23. p. E ; E. 

Nov. 4. — Sunday, 25th Week after Pentecost, Matt., ix, 18. 

W 24 ; P. E; L. 
Nov. 25. — Four weeks before Midwinter (and Palm Sunday), 

Luke, xix, 29. 
Nov. 25. — Four weeks before Midwinter, Mark, xi, 1 ; 

Matt., xxr, 1. W 26 , S, Y, and P. E, 1st Sunday 

in Advent, Matt., xxi, 1 ; O. G. LIIX , E, and L, 

Luke, xxi, 25. 
Nov. 29. — St. Andrew's Mass-even, John, i, 35. W 86 , John, 

I, 29. 
Nov. 30.— St. Andrew's Mass-day, Matt., iv, 18. G 5 ; A., I, 

xxxvin ; W 87 ; E; P. E ; B 34 , John, I, 29. 
Dec. 5. — Wednesday, 3rd Week before Midwinter, Matt., 

in, 1. Y and H, Wednesday before Christmas; 

W 125 , 1st Friday in Advent. 
Dec. 7. — Three weeks before Midwinter on Friday, John, 

I, 15. B 49 ; S; Y; W 127 , 2nd Friday in Advent. 
Dec. 16.— Week before Midwinter, Matt., xi, 2. G 6 , P. E, 

and L, 3rd Sunday in Advent. 



ANGLO-SAXON D^G-M^L. 91; 

Dec. 1 9. — Wednesday to the Embers before Midwinter, Luke, 
I, 26. W 128 , 3rd Wednesday in Advent, Luke, I, 
39. 

Dec. 21. — Friday to the same Fast, Luke, I, 39. 

Dec. 22. — Bis gebyraft on Sseterndseg to sewfsestene aer myd- 
dan-wintra, Luke, in, 1. G 20 , Sabbato Quat. 
Temp, ante Nat. Christi. 

Dec. 23. — Sunday before Midwinter, John, I, 19. C, Week 
before*Nat. Domini; G 7 , W 29 , P. E, and L, 4th 
Sunday in Advent ; R, Luke, Hi, 1-6. 

General Rubrics. 

. Mass of one Apostle, Luke, x, 1. A., n, XL, no text ; 

Durham Ritual, 81, Vigils, no text. 
. Apostles' Mass-days, John, xv, 12. A., n, xli, In 

Natale Plurimorum Apostolorum, Luke, x, 1. 
. A Confessor's Mass-day, Matt., x, 26. A., n, xliii, 

In Natale unius Confessoris, no text; D. R, 188, 15, 

no text. 
. Mass-day of Many Confessors, Luke, xn, 35 ; Matt., 

xxiv, 42. First text, W 82 . 
. A Martyr's Mass-day, Matt., x, 37. D. R, 84, "In 

vigilia unius Martyris." 
. Mass-day of Many Martyrs, Matt., x, 16. A., n, 

xlii; D. R, 92-162, no text. 
. Women Saints' Mass-day, Matt., xxv, 1. A., n, xliv, 

In Natale SS. Virginum, no text. 

Midwinter. 

I have followed Bouterwek (Ccelendcivide) in beginning my 
Notes to the Rubrics at Midwinter, because that was regarded 
by many of the Anglo-Saxons as the proper beginning of the 
year, and because it serves to introduce other dates, — 8th 
Mass-day to Midwinter, 12th Even, 12th Day, etc. — that 
would not otherwise be understood. 



92 FREDERICK TUPPER, JR. 

Bede, De Temporum Batione, xv (M. P. L., 90, 356 ; Giles, 
VI, 178), tells us: "Incipiebant (i. e., antiqui Anglorum 
populi) autem annum ab octavo Calendarum Januariarum die 
ubi nunc Natale Domini celebramus. Et ipsam noctem nunc 
nobis sacrosanctam, tunc gentili vocabulo Modranicht, id est, 
matrum noctem appellabant ob causam, ut suspicamur, cere- 
moniarum quas in eo pervigiles agebant." 

This has caused much discussion. Hickes, Antiquae IAtt. 
SeptenL, etc., I, 309, would explain Moedrenicht or Modre- 
nicht as " parens aliarum noctium." Grimm, Teutonic My- 
thology (Stallybrass), I, 753, accepts Bede's explanation, but 
suggests in a note that "modre nicht" may be "muntere 
nacht/' watchful night. Bouterwek (Ccedmon, Glossary s. v. 
Niht) shares Hickes' view that the night received its name, 
because with it the nights (days) of the New Year began. 
Kluge, Etymologisches Worterbuch, s. v. " Weihen " renders it 
"der Mutter Nachte;" and Mogk, "Mythologies § 84, Paul's 
Grundriss, I, 1126, says of the word : " Ein Wort das auf die 
Verehrung der Matronae romisch-germanischer Inschriften 
der altn. dlsar hinweist : es sind die Nachte die den weib- 
lichen Schutzgeistern den Seelen Verstorbener geweiht sind." 
Elton, Origins of English History (1890), 257, 272, cites many 
references to the Germanic "Mothers" myth, but thinks 
that Modrenicht was so called because the women took part 
in a nocturnal watch. This is on a par with Turner's sugges- 
tion, History of Anglo-Saxons (1836), I, 233, that the night 
received its name from the worship of the Sun as a female 
divinity. The list of etymologies is full enough. I shall only 
call to mind, in this connection, the mysterious " Mothers " of 
Goethe's Faust (n, 5) and their classical origin (Taylor, Ed., 
1890, ii, 350). 

I shall consider the beginnings of the Anglo-Saxon Year 
under 8tb Mass-day to Midwinter. 

The name Midwinter cannot properly be understood without 
a discussion of the dates that marked the beginning of the 
seasons. Ccelendcwide, The Martyr Booh (Shrine; Wanley's 



ANGLO-SAXON D^G-M^L. 93 

Catalogue, 105-109), and ByrhtferS, Anglia, viii, 312, divide 
them thus : 

7th of February. Beginning of Spring. 
9th " May. " " Summer. 

7th " August. " " Autumn. 

7th " November. " " Winter. 

Elene, 1226, does not intend a different date : 
" Wses ]>a lencten agan 
Butan VI nihtum. ser Sumeres cyme 
On Maias Kalendas." 
This apparent discrepancy is easily explained. Kalendae is 
used broadly (" Penitentiale Ecgberti," Add. 21, Thorpe, A. 
L., 391) and implies here V Nonas (Cmlendcwide, 84). 

Kal. Cod. Cott. Titus, D. xxvn, and Vitellius, E. xvii 
(cited by Piper, Kalendarien, p. 74) prove, by the two dates 
given for the beginning of the seasons, that the Spanish method 
(Isidor, De Natura Rerum, c. 7, § 5) and the Julian one were 
both well known. Durand, Rationale, viii, 3, 21, p. 311, is a 
witness to the Spanish use in his day : 
" Festum dementis (Nov. 25) Hyems caput est Orientis 
Cedit Hyems retro, cathedrato sermone Petri (Feb. 22), 
Perfugat Urbanus (May 25), aestate Symphorianus (Aug. 
25)." 
For discussion of the Calendars, compare Piper, Id., 84. 

A few words now upon the times of Solstices and Equi- 
noxes. Midwinter (Dec. 25) and Midsummer (June 24) were 
regarded by many as the Solstices; by these followers of 
Roman custom the Equinoxes were placed at March 25th 
and September 24th. iElfric adheres to this, in his Homily 
on St. John the Baptist's Day (June 24), Thorpe, I, 356, 
translated directly from the 287th Homily of St. Augustine 
(Forster, Anglia, xvi, has overlooked this connection) : " Nis 
butan getacnunge j>set J?8es bydeles acennednys on ^sere tide 
wses gefremod $e se woroldlica dseg wanigende br8 and on 
Dryhtnes gebyrd-tide weaxende br$." The Booh of Martyrs 



(Shrine, 95, 22; Wanley's Catalogue, 107) gives under June 
24th " solstitia ftset is on ure gefteode, sungihte." Bouterwek, 
Cadendcwide, 37, shows that "solstitium hiemale secundum 
quosdam" is mentioned in the Ephemeris of Bede under 
December 24th ; compare Bede, De Temporibus, VII (M. P. 
L., 90, 283; Giles, VI, 126): " Solstitia et Aequinoctia bina 
putantur vni Kalendas Januarii et Julii, Aprelisque et Octo- 
bris." Bede 2 , Leechdoms, in, 257, tells us, however, "upon 
the authority of Easterns and Egyptians and all men best 
acquainted with Arithmetic, that the Lenten Equinox is upon 
xn Kal. Aprilis, St. Benedict's Mass-day, and that the other 
three tides are adjusted by this." Byrbtferth, Anglia, VIII, 
299, 15; 311, 28, and the Horologium (supra) follow the 
modern method (cf., however, Byrhtferft, 84, Anglia, vin, 
311, 8). Piper, Kalendarien, 83, shows how much other 
Calendars and Menologies varied in this respect. 

Solstices and Equinoxes subdivided each season into two 
divisions : Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, 895, A. on foran winter, 
B. C. on forewerdne winter; 913, B. C. on foreweardne 
sumor, on ufeweardne hserfest. Bass o)>re geare on ufan 
midne winter and j?y ilcan geare foran to middan wintra; 
923, A. on ufan hserfest. 

Length of Midwinter. — Passages from the Anglo-Saxon 
Chronicle show that this was a period of some duration : C. 
1016, Innan J?aere midwintres tide . . . . ];a sefter j?at tide; D. 
1053, Hit wses se micla wind on Thomes msesse niht and eac 
[eall] J?a midewinter. It closed legally on 12th Day : iElfred, 
V, 43, Schmid, 96, Eallum frrSum mannum $as dagas sien 
forgiefene butan J?eowum mannum and esne wyrhtum xn dagas 
on Gehhol ; Leechdoms, ill, 164, her se£$ ymb drihtnes gebyrd, 
ymb J?a xn niht of his tide. But the Christmas Season seems 
to have lasted twenty days : Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, 878, on 
midne winter ofer twelftan niht; iElfric's Canons, xxxvi, 
Thorpe, A. L., 450, and fseste selce man twelf monaft selcne 
Frigedseg buton fram Eastron oft Pentecosten, and eft fram 
middan wintra oft seofon niht ofer twelftan daeg ; Canute, I, 



ANGLO-SAXON D^G-M^L. 95 

16, 1, Schrnid, 264, "and ne J>earf man na fsesten .... of 
middan wintra o"S octabas Epiphaniae, J?8et is seofon niht ofer 
twelftan msesse-dseg; compare iEthelred, v, 18, Schmid, 224; 
VI, 25, Schmid, 230. 

Joannes Belethus, writing at Paris in 1160 (Durand, p. 338, 
c. 56), calls the time between Christmas and the Octaves of 
Epiphany "tempus gaudii, tempus regressionis." The Anglo- 
Saxons could have used fittingly the same expression. The 
Midwinter time could, however, be confined to a week, 
^thelred, v, 98, where Schmid's text (p. 224) reads, "oS 
octabas Epiphanie," D, MS. C. C. 201 has, "xim niht ofer 
midde wintres tide." All difficulty is removed if we suppose 
Midwinter to end at the close of Yule-week. 

Yule and Yule Feast. 

In Anglo-Saxon texts Geol or Gehhol is often used for the 
date of the Nativity: Shrine, 29, 26, aerestan Geoheldseig; 82, 
11, ser Geolum ; 47, 13, on }>one eahtej?an Geoheldseig ; 144, 
14, se serysta dseg in natale domini, ]>set is serysta Geohhel- 
dseg; Bede, Eccl. Hist, iv, xxi (19), 318, 17, ]>y twelftan 
dege ofer Geochol (Giles, in, p. 84, 28, Epiphaniae) ; Laws 
of Alfred, v, 5, Th., A. L., 29, Schmid, 74, Gehhol (Cod. B, 
C. C. 383 (19, 2), H, Textus Roifensis, Geol, but on margin of 
H, Geohhol); Id., v, 43, Th., A L., 40, Schmid, 96, Gehhol 
(H. Gehhel). The Century Dictionary s. v. Yule is wrong in 
regarding the variants of Geol as mere blunders. 

The etymology of Geol has never been definitely settled. 
Of the dozen etymologies, varying in degrees of improba- 
bility, I name the most important. Miss Elstob (Homily on 
Gregory, p. 29, Appendix) " follows the best antiquarians of 
her time in deriving it from ol(ale). I in Iol, Iul (Cimbri) 
as ge and gi in Gehol are premised to make it emphatic." 
She might have added that i or ge will serve as an ale-multi- 
plicative. Hazlitt, Popular Antiquities, I, 156, cites several of 
the old explanations of the word, all of them on a par with 



96 FREDERICK TUPPER, JR. 

that given by Spelman, Glossary s. v. Gula. Grimm, Teutonic 
Mythology, 617-624, 702, although he regarded Gothic Iiuleis 
as a cognate, was inclined to connect Gehhol with Gehweol 
(wheel), it being long the custom to roll a wheel at the time 
of the Summer Solstice to signify that the Sun had reached 
the highest place of his circle (Durand, Rationale, vn, 14 ; 
Belethus, p. 365, c. 17). This is to be compared with an 
explanation of the Saxons themselves ; Bede, De Temporum 
Batione, xv (M. P. L., 90, 356; Giles, vi, 178): "Menses 
Giuli a conversione solis in auctum diei, quia unus eorum prse- 
cedit, alius subsequitur, nomina accipiunt" (compare Shrine, 
153, 23-26; Ccelendcwide, 220-221, Bouterwek's Notes). 
Fick, Indogermanisches Worterbuch, vn, 245, connects Yule 
with A.-S. gylan, Icelandic yla, Germanic jolen, johlen ; the 
Gothic jiuleis seems to me to be the crux here, but it is not, 
like the other etymologies, an absurdity and is quoted with 
approval by Kluge, Nominale Stammbildung, § 74, p. 35, and 
by Skeat, Etymological Dictionary s. v. Yule. Yet another 
etymology has been recently discussed by Mogk, Paul's Grun- 
driss, I, 1125: "Altn. jol, urnord, Jul, hangt vielmehr 
sprachlich zusammen mid Ags. geohhol (Kluge, Englische 
Studien, IX, 311) das auf urgerm. jehwela zuriickgeht und 
dasselbe wie lat. joculus ist (Bugge, Ark. f. n. Fit., IV, 135)." 
Descriptions of Midwinter festivities among the heathen 
Saxons will be found : Atkinson's Glossary of Cleveland Dia- 
lect, 1868, s. v. Yule Cake; Hazlitt's Popular Antiquities, 1. c. ; 
Grimm, Teutonic Mythology, 15, 215, 702, 1240; Gummere, 
Germanic Origins, 402 ; Cleasby-Vigfusson, Icelandic Dic- 
tionary, s. v. Jol ; Century Dictionary, s. v. Yule ; Mogk, 1. c. 
Mogk points out that to the early Germans "every day of 
Yule was full of importance for weather and fate, every dream 
was fulfilled : " traces of this superstition are found among 
the Anglo-Saxons, Leechdoms, in, 162, 24, 166, 16. Con- 
cordia, 490, gives at some length the Midwinter monkish 
observances; and the Anglo-Saxon Laws show the layman's 
regard for Christmas-tide (Schmid's Index). 



ANGLO-SAXON D^G-M^L. 97 

It is not necessary to add any examples of Midwinter or 
of its synonyms, Christmas and the Nativity, to those cited by 
Bouterwek, Cazlendcwide, 38. 

On Cylda Mcesse-dceg \ 

Marshall's Note to the Rubric (Gospels, p. 522) is gram- 
matical : " Hie obiter notent Grammatici Cild in hoc versiculo 
usurpari pluraliter pro Pueros." I may supplement this, 
and call attention to MS. Cotton, Tiberius A., in, fol. 30b 
(Leechdoms, in, 185), where the natural gender of "cild" is 
so clearly masculine, that the word is opposed to " mseden " 
in about thirty cases : " Mona se o3er on eallum J>ingum to 
nytlic ys byegan .... cild acenned wis, milde, jeap, gesselig ; 
mseden eallswa." In Ben. Rule, Gloss, 115, 14; 106, 11, 
Cildra = Pueri ; compare Bos worth -Toller, s. v. Cild. 

The day is mentioned elsewhere in Anglo-Saxon : Durham 
Ritual, p. 47, In Natale Innocentium ; iElfric's Homilies, I, 
V ; Concordia, 521, betwyx cilda-msesse-dsege (innocentium 
festivitatem et Octabas Domini) ; Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, A. 
963, on Cildamsessedseg ; C. D. 1065, E. 1066, on Cilda- 
msessedseig. 

Eighth Mass-day to Midwinter. 

Apart from its importance as the Octaves of the Nativity 
and the time of the Circumcision of the Lord, this date is 
worthy of consideration as the proper beginning of the Anglo- 
Saxon Civil Year. 

The Anglo-Saxon Year had no less than five acknowledged 
beginnings : 

I. Advent. 
II. Christmas. 
III. 8th Mass-day to Midwinter. 
IY. Yernal Equinox (March 21st). 
V. Easter — Beginning of Lunar Year, 
7 



98 FREDERICK TUPPER, JR. 

L 

Although the beginning of the Church Year was not placed 
definitely at the opening of Advent until after the Conquest 
(Piper, Kalendarien, 89), iElfric (Homilies, I, 98) can speak 
of the season thus (Thorpe's Translation) : " Some of our 
service-books begin at the Lord's Advent, but not on that 
account is that the beginning of the year, nor is it with any 
reason placed on this day ; though our calendars, in this place, 
repeat it." 

II. 

According to Bede (cited supra) the heathen English began 
their year at Mid-winter; and their Christian descendants 
followed their example; compare Shrine, 29, 26, on J;one 
forman dseig in geare, "Sset is on ftone serestan geoheldseig, eall 
Cristes folc wurSiaft Cristes acennednesse. The Anglo-Saxon 
Horology (supra) begins at Christmas, and iElfric's Homilies 
open with the Nativity. 

The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle often begins the year at Christ- 
mas. In the case of many of the Annals, it is extremely 
difficult to decide when their year opens, but the following 
years show, both by context and order of the entries, unmis- 
takable signs of a midwinter beginning : A . 763, 827, 878, 
891 (change of hands in A makes this Annal doubtful), 913 
B. C. (Bses o"Sre geare on ufan midne winter and ]>y ilcan 
geare foran to middan wintra), 963 A., 1009-1010 (doubtful, 
but point to Easter beginning), 1012 D. E. F., 1014 C. D. 
E. F., 1039 E., 1043-1053 (the most confused place in the 
Chronicle, but C. differs from other MSS. in beginning at 
Easter), 1045-1048 (D. E. F.), 1053 D., 1063 D., 1066 E., 
1078 D., 1070-1090 E. (these " Wulfstan Annals " open at 
Easter), E. 1091, 1094-1096 (January 1st is here called 
" gearesdseg "), 1097 sq. (all Peterborough Annals (E.) begin 
at Christmas). The above represents more definite results 
than have before been obtained, but the chronology of the 
Annals has been discussed in the Monumenta Historica Britan- 
nica (1848), by Sir T. D. Hardy, "Chapter on the Chronology 



ANGLO-SAXON D2EG-M.3BL. Vd 

of Mediaeval Historians ; " by the anonymous author of the 
Dissection of the Saxon Chronicle, 1830, who drew largely from 
St. Allais' L'Art de Verifier les Dates (Paris, 1818); and by 
Earle in the Introduction to his Edition of the Chronicle. In 
his excellent essay Hardy notices — though this was done a 
century earlier in the MS. Notes of Waterland — that Florence 
of Worcester, William of Malmesbury, and Henry of Hunt- 
ingdon all employ a Christmas year-beginning. 

III. 

Coelendcwide begins the year on January 1st (1. 3-7) : 
" On \y eahteoj^an dseg 
Hselend gehaten heofonrices weard. 
Swa -3a sylfan tiid side herigeas 
folc unmsete, habbaft foreweard gear 
forSy se kalend us cyme$ gefuncged," etc. 

January 1st is recognized once in the Chronicle as the begin- 
ning of the year (1096) ; and its right to that place is elsewhere 
firmly established : Shrine, 47, 10, "On "Sone eahteftan geohhel 
dseg br3 J?ses monies fruma |?e man nemneft januarius );a3t is on 
ure je^eode se seftera jeola J?set bi3 se seresta geares monaft 
mid romwarum and mid us ; n ByrhtferS, Anglia, viii, 305, 
28 : "xErest we willa3 fon on Januarium forSon he ys heafod- 
hebba and eac }?8es geares geendung. Swa be him cwseS sum 
gejmngen wita, ( Januarius dictus est quod limes et janua 
anni'" (this remarkable etymology is found in Bede's De 
lemporum Batione, xn, M. P. L., 90, 331, doubtless Byrht- 
ferS's source). As the first day of the year, January 1st was 
the time of prognostications ; compare " Prophezeiung aus dem 
1 Januar fur das Jahr," Anglia, xi, 369 (Vespasian D. 14, 
fol. 75b), "Donne forme geares 1 daeig by^S Sunendseg," etc. 

A devout Churchman like .ZElfric acknowledges under pro- 
test this beginning of the year {Homilies, I, 98) : " We have 

1 Cl Horstman, Lives of Saints, E. E. T. Soc, 87, p. 177, \ 28, 1. 5: 
" The furste feste >at in the gere comes we cleopieg geres dai 
Ase ore loverd was circumciset," etc. 
Cf. Orm, 4154, 4220, cited by Bouterwek, Ccelendcwide, 18. 



100 FREDERICK TUPPER, JR, 

often heard that men call this day the day of the year (jeares- 
dseg), as if this day were first in the circuit of the year ; but 
we find no explanation in Christian books why this day is 
accounted the beginning of the year. . . . Now our calendar 
begins, according to the Roman institution on this day, not 
for any religious reason, but from old custom." As an 
example of the same feeling to-day, I quote from the Anno- 
tated Prayer Book, p. 257; the Saxon Homilist of the 10th 
and the Anglican Prelate of the 19th Century use almost the 
same words : " January 1st was never in any way connected 
with the opening of the Christian year, and the religious 
observance of the day has never received any sanction from 
the Church except as the Octave of Christmas and the Feast 
of the Circumcision " (see Waterland's MS.). 

Severe penalties were inflicted upon those who celebrated 
this day (Theodore, "Penitentiale" (673), xxvn, 19, Thorpe, 
A. X., 293) ; yet as ByrthferS said (Anglia, vin, 305, 31) : 
" De Januario. Se forma daeg and eall se inonS ys gehalgod 
mid Cristes gebyrd-tide." 

IV. 

iElfric tells us (Homilies, I, 98) : " J?a ealdan Roniani on 
haeSenum dagum ongunnon J?ses geares ymbryne on ftysum 
daege (January 1st) ; and $a Ebreiscan leoda on lenctenlicere 
emnihte; $a Greciscan on sumerlicum sunstede; and J?a Egyp- 
tiscan 'Seoda ongunnon heora geares getel on hserfeste. . . . 
Rihtlicost br3 geSuht J?aet ]?ses geares anginn on 'Sam dsege sy 
gehsefd, J?e se iElmihtiga scyppend sunnan and monan and 
steorran and ealra tida anginn gesette; J>set is on ]?am dsege 
j?e ]?8et Ebreisc folc heora geares getel onginnaS." iElfric is 
here drawing directly from Beda, De Temporibus, ix, M. P. 
L. y 90, 284, and De Temporum Ratione, vi, M. P. L., 90, 
317; compare Bede 2 , iv, Leechdoms, in, 246 (Forster, Anglia, 
xvi, 30). 

In MS. Cotton, Caligula A., xv, fol. 126b, Leechdoms, in, 
153, the physician commences his series "on the month of 
March which men call Hlyda, since it is the beginning, after 



ANGLO-SAXON D^G-M^L. 101 

right reckoning, of all the year and the Almighty God on that 
month created all creation." Ember days were reckoned from 
March ("Dialogus" of Ecgbert, xvi, Thorpe, A. L., 324); 
November is glossed by " ]?ses nygej?an monies " {Ben. Rule, 
Gloss, x, 39, 10) ; and Bede, Eccl Hist, iv, V (5), 278, 5, 
places Easter " sefter J?sem feowerteog^an monan J»a3S serestan 
monies (mensis primi)." 

Other Anglo-Saxon writers mention the Equinox in con- 
nection with the Creation • compare ByrhtferS, Anglia, vin, 
309, 40; 310, 5; Shrine, 62-64; Hexameron (Norman), 8, 
12 ; Bouterwek, Ccelendcwide, 22, and Ccedmon, lviii, lx. 1 
Durand, Rationale, viii, 32, p. 309, speaks of the honor paid 
by certain moderns to "primus dies seculi" (March 18th), and 
Chaucer refers to the belief in "Nonne Preestes Tale," B. 367 : 

" Whan that the month in which the world bigan 
That highte March whan God first maked man 
Was complet," etc. 

Some of the Chronicle Annals begin at Easter (supra), but 
the annalist may have in mind the Vernal Equinox. Water- 
land, MS. Notes, Earle and the Dissector of the Chronicle 
make the mistake of mentioning Lady Day (March 25th) as 
the beginning of the year. This had no such honor until the 
end of the 13th Century (compare Durand, Rationale, viii, 
32, p. 309 ; St. Allais, U Art de Verifier les Dates, I, 17) ; and 

1 Anglo-Saxon poetry uses the Spring-beginning ; compare Beowulf, 1133 : 
" winter yfte beleac 
is-gebinde, oft "Sat ofter com 
gear in geardas, swa nu gyt deft 
>a >>e syngales sele bewitiaft 
wuldor-torhtan weder. J>a waes winter scacen 
faeger foldan bearm." 
The passage has occasioned much grammatical discussion. I differ with 
Heyne (Heyne-Socin Ed.) and regard "weder" as nominative and "sele" 
as objective ; but, in any case, the year is represented as beginning in the 
Spring. Again, the cuckoo, called "sumeres weard" (Seefahrer, 53), 
"announces the year" (Guthlac, 716), It is needless to say that cuckoos 
do not sing in January, any more than English nightingales in July. 



102 Frederick: tupper, jr. 

its new importance was doubtless due to the increased rever- 
ence for the Virgin so striking at that time (Waterton's Pietas 
Mariana Britannica (1879), 13, 130). 

V. 

Many of the Annals in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle begin at 
Easter {supra). The annalist may have had in mind the 
Vernal Equinox, but it was more probably on account of 
Easter's position as first day of the lunar year. A few refer- 
ences will show Easter's importance in this regard : Bede, 
De Temporum Ratione, xi, M. P. L., 90, 341 ; ByrhtferS, 
Anglia, viii, 309, 32; 322, 37; 329, 40; 330, 18, Easter 
dseg wses se forman dseg on J?sere ealdan se; Bede 2 , Leechdoms, 
in, 248, 21, on sumum jeare br$ se mona twelf srSon geni- 
wod fram |?sere halgan eastertide o'S eft eastron and on sumum 
geare he br<5 j?reottyne srSon geedniwod. 1 See Hampson, M, 
A. Kal, ii, 417. 

12th Day. 

There is little to be added to the Notes of Marshall and 
Bouterwek. The Feast of the Epiphany had many names 
in the Anglo-Saxon Church : Shrine, 48, 4, ];one halgan dseg 
set drihtnes setywnesse j?set is se drihtnes halga twelfta dseg, 
drihtnes fullwihtes dseg; Ccelendcwide, 11, fulwihttid, twelfta 
dseg ; .ZElfric, Homilies, I, 104 ; n, 36, swutelung-dseg ; Con- 
cordia, 531, Epiphania is glossed by setywincge ; Durham 
Ritual, p. 2, bseddseg; A.-S. Chronicle, E. 1118, on J?sere 

1 Bede, De Temporum Ratione, xv, M. P. L., 90, 336, tells us of Embo- 
lismus or year of 13 months. When this occurred, an extra or Intercalary 
month, Thrilidi, was assigned to the summer. This has been discussed by 
Hickes, Ling. Vett. Sept., I, 216. A representation of the signs of the 13 
Anglo-Saxon months on the porch of St. Margaret's Church, York, is 
described at length by Fowler, Archceologia, xliv (1871), 146 sq. We have 
doubtless a reference to this year in the difficult passage, Percy Folio MS., 
Hales' Ed., i, 26 : 

" But how many merry monthes be in the yeere, 

There are 13 in May (I say ?), 

The Midsummer Moone (Thrilidi ?) is the Merryest of all, 

Next to the merry month of May." 



ANGLO-SAXON D^G-M^L. 103 

wucan Theophanie. The honor done to Epiphany by the 
noble saint Etheldreda shows its importance in the Anglo- 
Saxon Church (Bede, Eccl. Hist, iv, xxi, 318, 15) : "And 
seldom in hatum baftum heo banian wolde butan ];am hyhstan 
symbelnessurn and tidum set Eastran, and set Pentecosten and 
J>y twelftan dege ofer Geochol." Truly, days of rejoicing ! 
Compare Grimm, Teutonic Mythology (Epiphania, Bethphania, 
Perchentag) ; Piper, Kalendarien, 93 ; Hazlitt, Popular An- 
tiquities, I, 13-19; Hampson, M. A. K., Glossary, s. v.; Ann. 
Prayer Book, 257. 

Septuagesima and Sexagesima. 

R. Matt., xx, 1. On J?one Sunnandseg J?e man belydS 
Alleluia. 

R. Mark, IV, 3. On }?sere wucan sefter j?am J?e man belyc<5 
Alleluia. 

These Rubrics do not appear in Marshall, and therefore 
are not discussed by him, nor given by Schilter. They pre- 
sent, however, no difficulty. 

In his Homily upon Septuagesima (ii, 84 sq.), JElfric tells 
us, upon the authority of Amalarius (De JEoclesiasticis Officiis, 
M. P. L., 90, 993; compare Anglia, xvi, 48), "why the holy 
congregation omits in God's Church, l Hallelujah' and ( Gloria 
in Excelsis Deo/ from this present day (Septuagesima) until 
the holy Easter-tide." Over the interminable "whys" we 
need not linger. 

Two Cotton MBS., Titus D. 27, iv, and Caligula A., xv, 
fol. 126, give rules " De Alleluia die invenienda." These 
were mentioned by Wanley, Catalogue, 248, 234; remarked 
by Hampson, Kalendarium, s. v. Septuagesima; and the 
second has been printed by Cockayne, Leechdoms, in, 227 : 
"On KL' Jan. ofer xvi'Kl. Febr. loca hwser J>u hsebbe x 
nihta eald monan, ofer ]?set J^one sunnan-dseg beluc Alleluia." 
Cockayne's translation, " Observe the Sunday. Hallelujah ! " 
shows how completely he missed the point. By subjecting 



104 FREDERICK TUPPERj JR. 

the rule to proof we obtain January 21st, the Septuagesima 
of our year (see Tables). ByrhtferS's rules for finding Sep- 
tuagesima (Anglia, vm, 324, 31 ; 329, 2) are very similar. 

Durand, Rationale, v, 6, 7, p. 165, tells us: "Alleluia 
was sung from Octaves of Epiphany to Septuagesima, and 
omitted until Pascha; from Pascha (Easter) to Pentecost 
Duplex Alleluia was chanted. It was included in the services 
from Pentecost to Advent and, like the Gloria in Excelsis, 
was omitted during the Advent season ,y " (compare Rationale, 

V, 4, 4-6, p. 152; vi, 24, 18-19, p. 192; vi, 85, 4, p. 243; 

VI, 95, 1, p. 255; vi, 97, 5, p. 257; Belethus, p. 345; Kurtz, 
Church History (1861), I, Chap. 56, p. 219). In Benedictine 
Rule, xv, Alleluia is omitted only from Quadragesimal services ; 
and nothing is said of this chant in the enumeration of Septua- 
gesimal offices, Concordia, iv, 1. 557. The custom indicated 
by the Rubrics persisted, however, in the English Church ; 
Horstman, Lives of the Saints, 63, 411, p. 443: "From J?at 
men loke Alleluia ; for to com Ester-day ; " compare Morris, 
Old English Homilies, x (E. E. T. Soc, 53, p. 53). A Septua- 
gesima ceremony of the Mediaeval Church was the " burial of 
Alleluia " (Hone's Everyday Booh, I, 100). 

The correspondences between the Anglo-Saxon Rubrics for 
the days under discussion and the Gospels for Septuagesima 
and Sexagesima in other Churches are striking (Tables). A 
passage from the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, E. 1127, Thorpe, 
p. 378, is interesting in this connection: "J?set wees J?es 
Sunendaies J?aet man singaft i Exurge quare o D.' " The 
chant mentioned is the Introit for Sexagesima Sunday (Sarum 
Missal, 1868, p. 49; Nicolas, Chronology of History, 1833, 
p. 115). 

During the Septuagesimal season, all oaths and ordeals were 
forbidden among the Anglo-Saxons: Canute, 16, Thorpe, J.. 
L., 158; Wulfstan, Homilies, xlhi, p. 208. Marriages were 
included in the interdict : iEthelred, vi, 25, Thorpe, A. L., 
137, Schmid, 230 ; v, 18, Schmid, 224. 



ANGLO-SAXON D^G-M^L. 105 

Postquam impleti sunt dies Purgationis Mariae 
(R. Luke, ii, 1). 

"And ]?38s embe ane niht 
ftset we Marian msessan healdaft 
cyninges modor, forftam heo Crist on J?am clsege 
beam wealdendes brohte to temple." 

[Cadendcwide, 19.) 
A few references to this day (Candlemas) may be useful. 
In Concordia, 1. 542, the services at this feast are described in 
detail ; compare Id. 484, oj? ciricgange sea. marian (usque ad 
purificationem sancte Marie). The day is mentioned often in 
the Chronicle, — I supplement Bouterwek's examples : C. D. 
E. 1014, to Candelmsessan ; B. 1043 (C. 1044), x nihtum asr 
Candelmaassan ; D. 1078; E. 1091, 1094, 1101, 1116, 1121, 
1123, 1124-1127, 1140. It is found in the Laws : ^Ethelred, 
vin, 12, Thorpe, A. L., 146, Schmid, 244, leoht-scot gelseste 
man to Candelrnsessan ; Anhang, in, 4 pr., Schmid, 374, of 
Candel-msesse oft Eastran (3 days work of Gebur) ; Canute, I, 
12, Schmid, 263, Leoht-gesceot .... to J?8em Sanctam Mariam 
clsensung (Codex Colbertinus reads, in vigilia S. Mariae in 
Augusto, i. e. Ascension of Mary on August 15th); compare 
Schmid, Glossary s. v. L§oht-gesceot. 

To Caput Jejunii on Wodnes-dceg. 

This is the Eubric to Matt., vi, 16; and the day is men- 
tioned often in canonical texts : Benedictine Rule, Gloss., XV, 
45, 12 ; xlviii, 82, 8, anginn lsencten fsesten (caput quadra- 
gesime); xli, 73, 15, oft andgin fsestenes (capud quadragesi- 
mae) ; Id., Translation, xv, 39, 16; xli, 66, 14, oft lenctenes 
anginne (in caput quadragesime) ; xlviii, 74, 3, oft lencten- 
fsesten = " Winteney," oft lenten (ad caput quadragesime) ; 
xlviii, 74, 17, onforan lencten = " Winteney/' 99, 25, on 
forme lentenes deige (in capite quadragesime) ; Concordia, 
440, in heafod lencten fsestenes (in caput quadragesimae) ; 



106 FREDERICK TUPPER, JR. 

540, oJ> heafud lenctenes; 564, 566, 597, fram heafde faestenes 
on ]?am feorSa weorcdsege ; 1030, heafde on lencten. From 
these examples, one can see how completely Bosworth-Toller 
is mistaken when it mentions, " heafod-lencten-fsesten-es. n, 
the chief Lent-fast." The word is, of course, a literal trans- 
lation of Caput Jejunii j and the form cited is to be regarded 
as a "crude form," to adopt Logeman nomenclature (Ben. 
Rule, Introduction, xxxix) ; cf. angin lsencten-fsesten (supra). 
iElfric, Lives of Saints, xn, p. 260, gives us interesting 
information in regard to the Anglo-Saxon Ash-Wednesday : 

" pis spel gebyraft seofon niht ser lenctene 
On "Sysse wucan on Wodnesdseg swa swa ge sylfe witon 
Is Caput Jejunii \>set is on Englisc heafod lenctenes-fsestenes. . . . 

Nu ne beoft na feowertig daga 
On urum lenctenlicum faestene gefylled 
Buton we fseston >serforan to >as feower dagas 
. ' Wodnesdseg and Juinres-daeg and frige-dseg and sseternes-dseg. 
Swa swa hit gefyrn geset, wses >eah fte we hit eow nu secgan. 
On )>one Wodnes-dseg, wide geond eorftan 
Sacerdas bletsiaft, swa swa hit geset is 
Clsene axan on cyrcan." 

Lent proper, therefore, began with Quadragesima Sunday. 

A few other references present themselves : Canons of Edgar, 
I, Thorpe, J.. L., 405, on J?one wodnesdseg J?e we hata^ caput 
jejunii; Wulfstan, Homilies, xvn (22), 104, 9, on wodnesdaeg 
J?e by3 caput jejunii ; Eccl. Inst, Thorpe, A. L., 310, capite 
jejunii, capite quadragesime ; Durham Ritual, 5, 6, 8. Com- 
pare Kurtz, Church History, I, § 36, p. 21 9 ; Annotated Prayer 
Book, p. 266. 

Friday in the "Cys-wucan." 

The gospel for the day corresponds to the gospel for Friday 
in Quinquagesima in the Liber Comitis of Jerome and in the 
Sermons of Wycliffe. Marshall (Notes, p. 523) has given 
correctly the meaning of the Rubric, " die Veneris illo, qui 
statim sequitur diem Cinerum ; " but from his citations of 
Spelman's Concilia, he omits Eccl. Inst, XL (Spelman, 610; 



ANGLO-SAXON DJ3G-MLEL. 107 

Johnson, 476, Thorpe, A. L., 486-487), which seems much to 
the point : "At this tide there should be abstinence from all 
delicacies, and soberly and chastely we should live. If any 
at this holy tide can forego cheese and eggs and fish and wine, 
it is a strict fast/' etc., etc. Joannes Belethus, p. 360, tells 
us that, in his day (1147), eggs, cheese and milk were pro- 
hibited, but that (as in Saxon times) the enjoyment of these 
was permitted by St. Benedict. Compare here Bosworth- 
Toller's Note s. v. " Cys-wucan." 

Butter-week in the early Church (Kurtz, Church History, 
I, 359, Par. 56, § 7) was the precursor of the Anglo-Saxon 
Cheese-week — the last week that cheese could be eaten before 
Lent began. 

Halgan Dceg. 

Halgan Dseg is Quadragesima Sunday. 

(1). Marshall (p. 522) makes this general statement : " In 
citeriorum seculorum Rubricis quas vidi omnibus Evangelii 
paragraphus assignatur Dominicae primae Quadragesimali." 
Quadragesima is in fact the only day to which this reading, 
Matt., iv, 1, could with propriety be assigned, and a refer- 
ence to my Tables will prove the truth of Marshall's obser- 
vation. 

(2). Marshall cites Spelman's Concilia, p. 610 (Thorpe, A. 
L., 484), " on ]?8ere nihstan wucan ser halgan niht." The 
context shows that " halgan niht " is Quadragesima Sunday. 
Marshall's arguments from example may be supplemented. 

(3). Halgan Dseg appears as a variant of Quadragesima. 
The MSS. (Wulfstan, Homilies, xxm (47), 117, 14) differ 
widely : B. (C. C. C. C. S. 14) we forbeodaft ordal and aSas 
.... fram Septuagesima o^S fiftene niht ofer Eastran ; K. 
(Cott. Tib. A., in) and for feowertinum nihtum ser haligan 
dsege; C. (C. C. C. C. S. 18) fram aer halgan dsege, etc. Like 
so much of Wulfstan, this passage is taken directly from the 
Laws (Canute, Schmid, I, 264), and fram Septuagesima o3 
XV nihton ofer Eastron. 



108 FREDERICK TUPPER, JR. 

(4). Wanley, Catalogue, 234, mentions a rule, "De Inveni- 
endo die Sancto" (Caligula A., xv, fol. 127); and again, p, 
284, " Regula ad inveniendum diem qui dicitur Alleluia, sicut 
et Diem Sanctum et Diem Paschatis " (Titus D., 27, iv). The 
first of these has been printed, Cockayne, Leechdoms, in, 227 : 
" On Februarius ofer vn id febr. loca hwaer Jrn finde tweigra 
nihta ealde monan ; ofer j?8et on ];one sunnan-dseg br<5 halga 
dseg." Cockayne renders this wrongly, " the next Sunday will 
be a holy day." If the rule is applied, the date discovered, 
February 11th, will be found to correspond to the Quadra- 
gesima Sunday of our arbitrary year (Tables). The rule given 
by ByrhtferS (Anglia, vin, 329, 13) for finding the First 
Sunday in Lent should be compared with the one that I 
have cited. 

The Anglo-Saxon Lent 

iElfric discusses in his Homily on Quadragesima (i, 178) 
the Lenten " tithing days " — he is translating from Gregory's 
16th Homily (M. P. L., 76, 1137, par. 1494): "Why is 
this fast computed for forty days ? In every year there are 
reckoned three hundred and sixty-five days ; now, if we tithe 
these yearly days, then will there be six and thirty tithing 
days (teoSing-dagas), and from this day to the holy Easter- 
day are two and forty days : take then the six Sundays from 
that number, then there will be six and thirty days of the 
year's tithing-days reckoned for our abstinence." Compare 
Blichling Homilies, 35, 17; Lives of the Saints, xn, 1; Wulf- 
stan, Homilies, xvn (22), " Sermo in XL," p. 102, 19; lv 
(la), 283, 28. 

The addition of four days to the Lenten fast was made 
after the death of Gregory or, as some say, by Gregory him- 
self (M. P. L., 78, 307, "In Greg. Lib. Sac. Notae," 31 6; 
Annotated Prayer Book, 266), and is described by iElfric, 
Lives of the Saints, xn (cited supra). Benedict (c. 530 A. D.) 
understood, therefore, by Caput Quadragesimae, Quadragesima 
Sunday; his 10th Century glossator and translator would 



ANGLO-SAXON D^G-M^L. 109 

regard it as the day of Ashes. iElfric, always orthodoxy 
itself, seems hardly to have regarded these four additional 
days as a part of Lent proper, but to have placed Quinqua- 
gesiraa Sunday " seofon niht ser lenctene." Since " lengtene " 
begins, therefore, on Quadragesima Sunday (ByrhtferS, 147, 
Anglia, viii, 324, 32), and since Sunday is not a fast-day, R. 
Matt., xxv, 31, Monandseg se forman fsestendseg is perfectly 
correct (compare " Capitula secundum Lucain," Lindisfarne 
MS., Cott., Nero D., 4, fol. 129b, col. 1, Skeat, 1, "xlgisima 
feria n") ; otherwise we must suppose with Marshall that the 
Rubric is used in a broad sense like R. Mark, ix, 2, on ssetern- 
dseg on j?sere forman fsestenwucan. 

Lent is mentioned frequently in Anglo-Saxon texts : Bede, 
Eccl. Hist, in, vi, 172, 6, J>set feowertiglecan fsestan ser Eas- 
trum ; in, xvn, 230, 9, " alle tid J?ses feowertiglecan fsestenes 
ser Eastrum ; Ben. Rule, Translation, xli, 66, 5, over eallenc- 
ten = in quadragesima ; xlii, 67, 3, on fsestendagas = dies 
jejunii ; xlviii, 74, 10, on lenctenfsesten = in quadragesime 
diebus; 74, 12, on J?am fsestendagum = in quibus diebus 
quadragesime; xlix, 76, 5, on lencten fsestenne = istis diebus 
quadragesime; Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, E. 1048, on lengtene 
and ]?ses sylfan lentenes; D. 1071 (E. 1070), on lengten ; E. 
1088, innan J?am lengtene; 1092, to J>am lsengtene; 1106, 
onforan lsengtene .... on J?sere forman lsengten wucan; 1110, 
to foran lsengtene; 1122, 1127, on J;one lenten tyde; 1127, 
eall J?a3t lenten tid ; Wulfstan, Homilies, lviii, 305, 21 ; xvn 
(22), "Sermo in XL," 102, 12; Assmann, Grein's Bibl. der 
A.-S. Prosa, in, XL, 140 (Ermahnung zu Christlichem Leben 
— Larspell S. Dominica, in in xl). Marshall's Note on 
" Clean Lent n may be reinforced by examples : Wulfstan, 
Homilies, lv (la), 284, 18, M. ]?. 1. eow eallum is cu$ J?aBt f>es 
gearlica ymbrene us gebring^ efne nu J?a clsenan tid lencten- 
lices fsestenes ; 284, 29, mid clsenum fsestene and mid clsenum 
gej^ance; 285, 31, on Jnsum clsenum timan; compare Bliekling 
Homilies, 39, 1 ; Hampson, M. A, Kalendarium s. v. " Clean 
Lent." 



110 FREDEKICK TUPPEE, JR. 

The Anglo-Saxon Lenten Laws were very strict. Lent- 
breech (lencten-bryce) of any sort must be doubly atoned 
(JElfred, 5, § 5, Thorpe-, A £., 29, Schmid, 74; Id., 40, Th., 
39, Schm., 93-94; Canute, 48, Th., 173, Sch., 298); anyone 
who in Lent gave out holy law to the people without leave 
must pay a " bot " of cxx shillings (1. c.) ; and ordeals and 
oaths were not permitted at this time (Canute, 1, 17, Th., 158, 
Schm., 264). Church canons were equally severe : "Excerp- 
tions " of Ecgbert, cviii, Thorpe, A. L., 335, " qui in Quadra- 
gesima ante Pascha, I annum poeniteat, nupserit" (the scribe 
inserts not without humor, u cum propria conjuge ") ; Eccl. 
Inst, xxin, Th., 487, contains another such injunction ; Id., 
xxxvn, Th., 486, xli, Th., 487, treat particularly of the 
details of the fast (cf. Bede, Eccl. Hist, in, xvn, 238, 29 ; 
in, xx, 246, 34; v, n, 388, 8); Id., xxxvi, Th., 484, pre- 
scribes the time of confession (the Lent Shrift is given in 
MBS., Royal 2 B. V., and Cott., Tib. A., in, fol. 52 ro , printed 
by H. Logeman, "Anglo-Saxonica Minora," Anglia, xn, 513) ; 
Id., xli, xliv, Th., 487, direct frequent communion at this 
season. 

Myd-fcestene. 

The perfect sequence of the Myd-fsestene and Myd-lentene 
Rubrics proves the identity of the two seasons. The generic 
name (fsesten) is here, as elsewhere, adapted to the greatest of 
yearly fasts ; compare German Mittfasten. 

Homilies, " In Media Quadragesima," are cited frequently 
by Wanley ; and iElfric, Homilies, I, xn, and Lives of the 
Saints, xni, are devoted to this Sunday. The day is men- 
tioned, Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, E. 1047, Her on J?isum geare 
wses mycel gemot on Lundene to mid-festene = C. 1050, to 
mid-lencten ; E. 1055, VII nihton ser midlenctene (Witena 
gemot) ; E. 1093, to midlengtene. Mid-lenten was sometimes 
called "Laetare Hierusalem" (Spelman, Glossary s. v.); some- 
times " Dominica Refectionis " or " Refreshment Sundav " 



ANGLO-SAXON DJEG-M^L. Ill 

(Hazlitt, Popular Antiquities, I, 65); and, in the French 
Church, Mi Car6me {Ann. Prayer Booh, 272). 

Sunday, 5th Week in Lent 

In his Homily upon this Sunday {Homilies, n, xiii, 224), 
iElfric tells us : " This tide from this present day until the 
holy Easter-tide is called Christ's Passion Tide (Cristes 
Browung-Tid), and all God's ministers in the holy church 
with their church-services honor and in remembrance hold his 
passion, through which we were all redeemed. Our books 
also say, that we should hold these fourteen days with great 
earnestness, on account of the approach of the holy passion 
and honorable resurrection of our Saviour. On these days 
we omit in our responses ' Gloria Patri' on account of our 
lament for the holy passion, unless some high festival-day 
occur during them." 

St. Gregory's Mass-day. 

Bouterwek's Note to Ccelendcwide, 37, needs but little sup- 
plement. Gregory's day appears in iElfric's Homilies, n, ix 
(cf. Elstob's English Saxon Homily), in Bede's Latin Poetical 
Calendar, and in Cod. Cot. Tit. D., xxvn, but is omitted 
in Bede's Homilies, and in iElfric's Lives of the Saints (Piper, 
Kalendarien, 71-75). 

Thursday before Easier. 

This day was greatly honored as the time of the Lord's 
Supper: Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, E. 1106, on J?a niht ]?e on 
morgen was Cena Domini, ];get is se ]mnres-dseg toforan Eas- 
tran; Concordia, 597, oj? to gereorde drihtnes = usque ad 
cenam domini; 633, on J?am fiftan dsege se ]>e eac gereord 
drihtnes ys gecweden ; 563, 667. On Ceua Domini penitents 
were received again into the fold of the Church and com- 



112 FREDERICK TITPPER, JR. 

munion was administered (Wulfstan, Homilies, xvn (22), 104, 
12; xxxn (28), 153, 6; lvi (42), 289, 24). 

At this time began the " three silent days : " iElfric, Homi- 
lies, i, 219, Circlice 'Sea was forbeodaft to secgenne senig spel 
on J?am J?rym swig-dagum ; n, 262, Ne mot nan man secgan 
spel on J?am J?rym swig-dagum; compare iElfric's Homily, 
"In Cena Domini et v Feria et Sabbato Sancto" (Thorpe, 
A. L., x, 464; Soames, Anglo-Saxon Church, 1835, 310). 

The " silent days " have been discussed by Bouterwek (Cced- 
mon, clviii, clix) ; but one or two other references are useful 
in this connection. Stillness and due silence during the three 
days before Easter are enjoined by the Concordia, 630 sq. — at 
this place Zupitza's L. Fragment (Herrig's Archiv, lxxxiv) 
reads " swig-uhtan." In Old English Homilies, 2nd Ser., xvn 
(Morris, E. E. T. Soc, 53, 101 ; cf. Morris's Specimens, I, IV, 
11), 12th Century popular etymology — there so luxuriant — 
explains the purport of this " silence : " "Bitwenen his J?row- 
enge and his ariste he lai on his sepulcre and swiede and for 
J?at ben ]?e j?re dage biforen estre cleped swidages." Id., xvi, 
p. 96 (Specimens, vi, b. 84), swimesse means a " mass with- 
out music." Id., xvi, 98, tells the befitting duties on the 
three days, "A shereftursdai 1 to absoluciun. a lange-fridai to 
holi cruche. an ester even to procession [abuten }>e fanstone]." 

Langa Frige-dag. 

Marshall institutes an interesting comparison between the 
names given by different nations to this day : Germ., Karfrei- 
tag, Gute Freitag, Still Freitag ; French, Le grand Vendredi, 
Vendredi sanct or ore* ; English, Good Friday. The Scandi- 

1 Sherethursday long kept its name in the English Church : Horstmann's 
Lives of the Saints, 36, 360 ; 39, 220, 223, 244 ; 60, 25, On schere }>ores-day ; 
Sir T. Malory (Caxton Eeprint), 719, 32, On sherthursdaye. From the 
command contained in John XIII, 34, the Gospel for the day ("man- 
datum novum"), another name of the day, Maundy Thursday, was derived 
(Skeat, Etym. Diet. s. v.; Hazlitt, Popular Antiquities, I, 83-85), 



ANGLO-SAXON DJEG-M^JL. 113 

navian Dations still speak of Langfredag (Danish-English 
Dictionary, Ferrall and Repp, Copenhagen, 1845). 

Langa Frige-dseg is not a hapaxlegomenon in Anglo-Saxon : 
Canons of JElfric, 36, Thorpe, A. L. y 449, "Man ne mot hal- 
gian husel on langa frige-dseg for]?an ]>e Crist J>rowode on ];one 
daeg for us" (cf. Notes of Johnson and Baron, p. 407) ; Anglo- 
Saxon Chronicle, E. 1137, "On his time |?e Judeiss of Norwic 
bohtonan Cristenan cild beforen Eastren and pinidon him alle 
]>e ilee pining j?e ure Drihten was pined and on langfridai him 
on rode hengen," etc. ; Concordia, 633, langun frige (MS.) daeges 
J;rowunge = excepta Parasceve passione ; 734, No gloss to In 
die Parasceve (cf. L. Fragment). The word persisted for a 
short time in Middle English : Morris, 0. E. Homilies, 2nd Ser., 
95, 9, on lange fridai ; Id., 99, 28-29, a lange fridai (supra). 

Marshall derives the name from the longa oratio or lang 
gebed — a very probable etymology : Following the very unsafe 
guidance of the "swig-dagum" etymologist, one would conjec- 
ture that " langa " referred to the weary hours of the Cruci- 
fixion (compare Horstmann, Lives of the Saints, 36, 366, p. 229, 
A gode-friday al ]>e longue day). 

In the Shrine Good Friday is placed on the same day as 
the Annunciation of Mary (March 25th), — a date often chosen 
for the day in Anglo-Saxon Calendars (Piper, Kalendarien, 
71). The martyrologist had in mind the supposed duration 
of Christ's life (Shrine, 67), "]?a sefter twa and ^ritigum geara 
and sefter 3rym monSum wses Crist ahangen on rode on J?one 
ylcan dseg," etc. See the excellent note on Good Friday, Ann. 
Prayer Book, 284 ; Hampson, M. A. Kal. s. v. 

Easter Even. 

The day was an important one in the Anglo-Saxon Church 
and is mentioned often in their writings : Anglo-Saxon Chroni- 
cle, E. 1047, on Easter sefen ; E. 1097, o3 'Set Easter sefen ; 
Canute, Laws, 1, 12, Schmid, 262, and leoht-gesceot J?riwa on 
geare, serest on Easter sefen; Bede, Eccl. Hist, v, vn, 404, 27, 
8 



114 FREDERICK TUPPER, JR. 

wses J>y halgan dsege ]?ses Easterlican reste-dseges. The Latin 
name for the day was Sabbatum Sanctum. Aldred's glosses 
in the Lindisfarne Gospels and the Durham Ritual are interest- 
ing : Cap. sec. Marcum, Skeat, 5, Sabbato Sancto mane = se 
seternes dseg halig arlig; 1 Durham Ritual, p. 29, Sabbato 
Sancto mane = 'Se sseternes dseg halig arlig ; compare Con- 
cordia, 833, Sabbato Sancto = on reste haligum. 

Under this Rubric, the Harrowing of Hell tradition must 
be mentioned. The account in the Martyr Booh sub March 
26 (Shrine, 68), does not verge from the beaten track. In his 
note to this passage, Cockayne says that the Harrowing of 
Hell is a very ancient expansion of the text of Matt., xxviii, 
52, and cites Chrysostom, " Horn, n in Pascha ; " Augus- 
tine, Sermons, xxxix, 5 (2nd Easter Sunday), etc. The best 
Anglo-Saxon Version of the Legend is naturally the Apocry- 
phal Gospel of Nicodemus (Thwaites, Heptateuchus, etc, 1698; 
Bright, A.-S. Reader, 129, Selection, xix, Notes, p. 219). 
Compare Ann. Prayer Booh, 287. 

Easter Day. 

The Menologist (Ccelendcwide, 56) ushers in Easter thus : 
"Aprelis monaft on J?am oftust cym<5 
seo msere tid mannum to frofre 
Drihtnes serist ftsenne dream gerist 
wel wide gehwser swa se witega sang." 
The movable character of the feast is then poetized. Bouter- 
wek's Note upon this is very short and leaves much to be said. 
So much has been written about the different times of Easter 
that I shall consider this but briefly. For a scientific discus- 
sion of the Easter question, see Butcher's Ecclesiastical Calen- 
dar, London, 1871 ; for references useful in the Anglo-Saxon 

1 This date can have no reference to " Sseternes dseg ser halgan dseg," R. 
Mark, vi, 45, as Skeat intimates, Mark, Introd., xxiii. It is noteworthy, 
however, that none of the Mark lessons are assigned to Sabbatum Sanctum 
(Easter JEfen) in the other versions of the Gospels or, for that matter, in 
any other Eubrics that I have seen (compare Tables). 



ANGLO-SAXON D^G-M^L. 115 

field, compare Bede's Eccl. Hist, (often) ; Bede's Be Temporibus, 
xin-xv, M. P. L., 90, 286-287, Giles, vi, 129; Theodore, 
"Penitentiale," xxx, 4, Thorpe, A. L., 295; Synodus Pha- 
rensis (Whitby, 664), Spelman, Concilia, 144; Lingard's 
Anglo-Saxon Church (1845), I, 50. The definite Easter rules, 
appearing in Anglo-Saxon texts, have, however, been rarely 
cited. I may mention a few of these : MS. Cott., Caligula 
A., xv, fol. 126a, Leechdoms, in, 226: "On Marti ofer xn, 
Kl. Aprl. loca hwaer Jni finde xiii nihta ealdne monan ofer 
J?8et se niesta sunnandseg br$ eastor dseg ; " MS. Cott., Titus 
D., xxvii, fol. 54b, cited by Hampson, M. A. Kal., I, 101 ; 
Hexameron (Norman), vn, p. 12, "And ne beoft nsefre Eastron 
ser se dseg cume ftset 'Sset leoht hsebbe $a "Seostru oferswifted, 
$set is ftset se dseg beo lengra 3onne seo niht." Compare 
ByrhtferS, Anglia, vm, 309, 37; 310, 40; 322, 30; 324, 34. 

Bouterwek, Ccedmon, xcv, has discussed at length the 
connection between Easter and Eastre, a heathen Goddess, 
mentioned by Bede, De Temporum Ratione, Chap. xv. In 
O. E. Homilies (Morris), 2nd Ser., 97, 99, the popular ety- 
mologist, to whose mind consistency was never a bugbear, 
tells us : " ]?is dai is cleped estrene dai J?at is aristes dai ; " 
")>is dai is cleped estre dai, J?at is estene dai and te este 
(dainty) is husel " (" hu-sel = how good "). For a safer ety- 
mology, compare Skeat, Etym, Diet. s. v. " Easter ; " Kluge, 
Etym. Worth, s. v. "Ostern." 

Bouterwek, 1. c, has mentioned Gospel examples of the 
word . A num ber from other sources may be useful : Bede, Eccl. 
Hist, ii, ii (2), 98, 19, ne woldon Eastron healdan in heora 
tid; ii, ii (2), 102, 11, rihte Eastron; n, in (4), 106, 31, J?a 
symbelnesse Eastrana and J?one dseg ]?sere drihtenlican aeriste ; 
ii, in (4), 108, 3, in gehealde rihtra Eastrana ; n, vin (9), 
122, 14, \y serestan Eastordsege ; n, vm (9), 122, 26, J?sere 
ilean neahte j^sere halgan Eastrena ; in, iv, 164, 129; in, 
xrv, 206, 1; 206, 20, 22, on ]?ara Eastra msersunge; in, 
xviii (26), 240, 4, in J?sere Easterlican symbelnesse; com- 
pare in, xx, 246, 34; v, vi (7), 404, 27; v, xvi, 446, 25; 



116 



V, xvi, 454, 24; v, xvn, 456, 21; v, xix, 468-470; v,xx, 
472, 8 ; v, xx, 474, 1; Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, 627, 641, 878 
(C. 879), 1053, on Eastron ; E. 639, Ercenbriht aerest Eng- 
liscra cininga, he gesette Eastor fsesten; 853, 872, A. 917 
(B. C. D. 914), C. 979, C. D. E. 1010, ofer Eastron; A. 716, 
J?aet hie Eastron on ryht healdan = D. E. on rihtum Eas- 
trum; D. E. 774, on Eastertid; A. D. E. 878 (C. 879), C. 
1053, on Eastran; A. C. 892 (B. 891), ofer Eastran ymbe 
gang-dagas o}?J>e aer ; A. 921, foran to Eastron ; C. D. E. 
1012; C. D. E. 1016, toforan fam Eastron; C. 1012, waes 
Easter daeg on Sam datarum Idus Aprilis = F. J?a waeran 
Eastran Id. April ; C. D. 1016, on Sone sunnan efen Octab. 
Pasce ]?a waes xm Kl. Mai; C. D. 1043 (E. F. 1042), on 
forrnan Easter daeig . . . . C. E. J>a waeron Eastron on ni 
Non. April; E. 1061, innan )?aere Easter wucan on xiiii 
Kal. Mai; C. D. 1066, to J?arn Eastron — ]?a wseron efter J?am 
middanwinter and waeron ]?a Eastran on j?one daeg xvi Kal. 
Mai; E. 1086, 1087, 1096, to J?am Eastron; D. 1067, on 
]?isan Eastron, }?a waeron Eastren on x Kal. April ; E. 1095, 
on )?isum geare waeron Eastron on viii Kal. April., and ]?a 
uppan Eastron; 1097, J?a togeanes Eastron; 1116, aefter Eas- 
tron; 1122, on Pasches; 1123, eall Eastren-tyde ; 1125, on 
Eastran daei ; 1127, an to Eastren; 1130, aefter Easterne; 
1100, 1104, 1105, 1107, 1109, 1110, 1111, 1113, 1116, to 
Eastron (the plural in these examples is the ordinary Anglo- 
Saxon use ; cf. Bouterwek, Id., xcvi) ; Benedict. Rule, Gloss, 
Viii, 37, 5; xli, 73, 16, o$ Eastran = usque in Pascha; vm, 
37, 10; xv, 45, 18, fram Eastran = a Pascha; xv, 45, 10; 
xli, 73, 4, fram J?aere haligan Eastran = a sancto Pascha ; 
Id., Translation, vn, 32, 10, o]> Eastron (" Winteney," fort 
Eastron); vn, 32, 19; x, 34, 7; xv, 39, 14, 21, 22; xlviii, 
73, 8, from Eastron = a Pascha ; xli, 65, 13, fram ]?am 
halgan Eastrun o$ pentecosten; xlix, 77, 11, }>ara Eastrona 
(" Winteney," 103, 3, ]?a Eastre tid) ; Blichliny Homilies, 35, 
31, Easterlican; 35, 34, Easterdagas ; 67, 24; 71, 24, Eas- 
trum ; 83, 7, Eastor lie; iElfric, Homilies, I, 178, 23, o$ Sone 



ANGLO-SAXON DJEG-MJEL. 117 

halgan Easter dseg; I, 182, 3, seo halige Easter-tid; I, 216, 
33, on J?one Easterlican sunnan-daeg; I, 296, 20, fram ftaere 
halgan Easter-tide ; I, 310, 22, fram -Sam halgan Easterlican 
daege; n, 30, 5; 40, 11; 156, 14, on Easter-tide; n, 30, 33; 
84, 29, ser Eastron ; II, 32, 14, on J?am ^riddan Easterlicum 
dsege (Easter Tuesday) ; n, 30, 36, on fam Easter daege ; n, 
84, 21, o$ ]?a halgan Easter-tide; n, 84, 30, on |?am saternes- 
dages j?aere Easterlican wucan ; n, 88, 5, his heofonlican 
Easter-tide; II, 278, 17, Crist is ure Easter-tide; n, 156, 14; 
242, 21; 252, 10; 260, 6; 278, 13; 282, 31; 380, 28; 
JElfric, " Homily upon John, xi, 47-54," Assmann, Grein, 
Bibl. der A.-S. Prosa, in, p. 67, 1. 60, Hyt waes j>a gehende 
heora Easter-tide, and hi woldon habban J?one halgan Easter- 
da3g geblodegodne welhreowlice mid J?aes ha3lendes blod ; Ass- 
mann, Id., 152, 13, aer 'Sam symbeldaege )?aera Eastrona. The 
verb, "beon ge-eastrode " (Wulfstan, Homilies, xxin, 117, 
14, K (Tib. A., in)), has not been noticed by Bosworth-Toller. 

The Passover of the Old Dispensation and the Easter of 
the New were closely related in the eyes of Anglo-Saxon 
Churchmen. Pascha is glossed by Easter; "it was their 
Easter," iElfric tells us in his Homily upon John, xi, 47 
sq. (supra). In his Homilies, n, 282 (cited by Bouterwek, 
Ccelendcwide, p. 23), he calls Pascha Faereld ; compare Id., 
I, 310; ii, 266, 18. ByrhtferS, 134, Anglia, vm, 322, 1, 
says, " Pascha is ebreisc nama y he getacnaft ofer faereld," 
and, after giving a description of the Paschal feast, concludes, 
"Id est transitus Domini, hyt is witodlice Godes faereld." It 
is interesting to compare Old Testament passages : Ex., xn, 
21, offria^ Phase }>aet ys faereld ; Ex., xi, 27, hit ys Godes 
faereldes onrung = victima transitus Domini est; Lev., xxin, 
5, on J?am feowerteoftan daege J>aes forman monies (March) 
on aefen br§ drihtnes faereld (Phase Domini est) ; Joshua, V, 
5,10. 

The regard paid to Easter in Anglo-Saxon times is evinced 
by Concordia, v, 832-892, where the Easter-service is given 
in full ; by iElfric's Homilies, I, xv, n, xv, and by Blickling 



118 FREDERICK TUPPER, JR. 

Homilies y vn; by the Durham Ritual, pp. 24, 177; by Byrht- 
ferft, Anglia, vin, 323, 330, 8 ; and by the Martyr Booh, 
Shrine, p. 67. For the many civil and ecclesiastical Easter 
laws, compare the Indexes of Thorpe and Schmid, and 
Andrews's excellent Monograph, The Old English Manor. 

Ofer Eastron be \mre rode. 

Marshall quotes from iEthel wold's De Consuetudine Mona- 
chorum (Englische Studien, ix, 296) : "Singan hi J?one antemp 
be )>sere halgan rode and J?ser sefter senne be sancta Mariam." 
This will be found in the original * of the De Cons. Mon., the 
Concordia, 1. 240. A passage from Concordia, 348, is even 
more to the point : " Post sextam eant ad mensam hoc semper 
attendendum ut sexta feria de Cruce, Sabbato de Sancta Maria, 
nisi festiva aliqua die evenerit, missa celebretur principalis " 
(" On syxtan worcdage be J?aere rode, on saternes dseg be Sea. 
Marian"). This explains also E,. Luke, x, 38, " Sseterndagum 
be Maria." 2 

Turner, History of the Anglo-Saxons, 1828, in, Book x, p. 
500, and Lingard, History of Anglo-Saxon Church, 1845, I, 
422, Notes, have debated the idolatry of cross-worship in the 
Anglo-Saxon Church, and Bouterwek, Cmdmon, clxv sq., has 
discussed it at some length. Space does not permit me to con- 
sider the question ; but a few references, not as yet mentioned, 
may aid future students of Rood-worship : Concordia, 1. 766 

1 This has been discussed by me, Mod. Lang. Notes, June, 1893. 

*Sarum Missal, Appendix E, p. 614: " The reasons assigned at the begin- 
ning of this Mass (p. 521) for the origin of Saturday in commemoration of 
our Lady are : 1st. That at Constantinople the veil before her image was 
drawn aside every Friday evening at Vespers, and replaced at the same 
hour the following night; 2nd. That, when all the disciples forsook our 
Lord and fled, she only who had borne him without pain and knew that 
he was God, remained ; 3rd. Because the Sabbath is a day of rest and she 
is the door of Heaven ; 4th. Because the Feast of the Mother should follow 
that of the Son ; 5th. For that on the day our Lord rested from labor the 
Service should be more joyous." For other references to " The Saturday," 
see Waterton, Pietas Mariana Britannica, 1879, p. 141. 



ANGLO-SAXON D^G-M^L. 119 

sq., the full service described (cf. Durand, Rationale, VI, 77, 
21, p. 229); 182, 242, 284 sq., 385, 665, 735, 833, 870, 895; 
Durham Ritual, p. 93, ad crucem salutandam; p. 150, Antifo' 
ad crucem; JElfric's Homilies, I, 588, 16; 610, 10; II, 240, 
23 ; 306, 21 (discussed by Bouterwek, 1. c.) ; Blielding Homi- 
lies, 97, 10, " forJ>on we sceolan weorSian J>set halige sigetacen 
Cristes rode and a?fter fylgeon and biddon ure synna forgif- 
nessa ealle set somne;" 27, 27; 33, 11; 47, 11-16; 90, 21; 
191, 5; Assmann, Homilies, xiv, Grein, in, 164, "for)?am we 
sculan weorSian Cristes rode and biddan ure synna forgifnessa 
ealle set somne;" xv, 175, 1. 169; 197, 214; xvn, 194, 
34; Wulfstan, Homilies, 227, 8; Shrine, p. 67 ; Anglo-Saxon 
Chronicle, 885, u He (Marinus) sende him (JElfred) micla gifa 
and )?sere rode dsel J?e Crist on )?rowode "= B. 883, Marinus 
sende lignum Domini JElfredi cinge ; " E. 1070, " ac hi (the 
outlaws of Hereward) rohton na }>ing gedon into ]?e mynstre 
clumben upp to ]>e halge rode namen ]?a J?e kynehelm of ure 
Drihtnes heafod." 

Gang-days. 

The Gang-days Rubrics (see Tables) present some difficul- 
ties. Neither Marshall (Notes, 525) nor Bouterwek (Note 
to Cadendewide, 71-75) makes clear the connection existing 
between the Gang-days and the Major and Minor Litanies ; 
but Piper's Table of Calendars is helpful. My purpose is 
threefold : — I. To trace briefly the early history of the Major 
and Minor Litanies. II. To show that the Major Litany, 
contrary to the Roman custom, was placed on the Gang-days 
by the Anglo-Saxons of the 10th Century. III. To prove, 
contra Bouterwek, that the Gang-days always fell in the week 
of the Ascension. 

I. 

Durand, Rationale, vi, 102, 8, describes, upon the authority 
of Paul the Deacon {De Gestis Langobardorum, in, 24, M. P. 
L., 95), the institution of the Major Litany : " The Major is 
in the feast of St. Mark (April 25th), and was created by the 



120 FREDERICK TUPPER, JR. 

blessed Gregory after a plague, the groin swelling." Durand 
then explains the three names of the Litany, the Gregorian, 
Cruces Nigrae and Septiform {Concordia, 847, includes in its 
service the Letanie Septene). Compare Notes to Gregory's 
Liber Sacramentorum, 393, M. P. L., 78, 385 ; " In Ordinem 
Romanum Commentarius," xcvn, Id., 908 ; cxv, Id., 916 ; 
Glossaries of Spelman and Du Cange, s. v. "The Minor 
Litany," says Durand, Rationale, vi, 102, 4, "which is called 
also Rogations and Processions, was made for the three days 
before Ascension by Mamertus, Bishop of Vienna, who, on 
account of the plague of wolves and wild animals and the 
severe earthquakes, declared a three days fast and instituted 
Litanies. It is called Minor because it was established by a 
minor person, a simple bishop, in a minor place, Vienna. 
The other is called Major because it was established at a 
greater place, Rome, by a greater man, Gregory, and for a 
great and severe sickness." Compare the copious references, 
given by Du Cange s. v. " Rogationes," and by Spelman s. v. 
" Perambulatio." 

That the Major and Minor Litanies early came into con- 
flict in England is shown by the 16th Canon of the Council 
of Clovesho (747), Spelman, Concilia, 249. This is given by 
Bouterwek in his Ccelendcwide Note, and is discussed by Piper, 
Kalendarien, p. 42 ; but I insert a part of it, as necessary to 
my subsequent discussion : "Ut Letaniae, i. e. Rogationes a 
clero omnique populo his diebus cum magna reverentia agant- 
ur, i. e. die septimo Kalendarum Maiarum (April 25th) juxta 
ritum Romanae ecclesiae, quae et Letania Major apud earn 
vocatur. Et item quoque secundum morem priorum nostro- 
rum tres dies ante Ascensionem Domini in caelos .... 
venerentur." Du Cange's references s. v. "Letania Romania" 
and " Letania Gallicana " show how correct the Canon was in 
its distinction between the uses of the two churches. 
. II. 

The question now arises. Was the Letania Romana or 
the Letania Gallicana of Mamertus the major prayer-service 



ANGLO-SAXON B^G-M^EL. 121 

among the Anglo-Saxons? In BeoVs Homilies and in his 
Poetical Calendar (Piper, 72, 76) the Major Litany is placed, 
in strict accordance with Roman custom, upon St. Mark's 
Day (April 25) — and these were written many years before 
Clovesho. Yet the Gallic custom ("secundum morem priorum 
nostrorum ") of observing the Major Litany in Gang- week 
was certainly dominant in the time of iElfric. Feria Secunda 
Litania Majore (Rubric, Homilies, II, xxi, p. 314), In Litania 
Majore Feria Tertia (Rubric, n, xxn, p. 332), In Letania 
Majore Feria Quarta (Rubr., n, xxv, p. 360) indicate the 
three days before Ascension. -ZElfric tells us in the last men- 
tioned Homily, that " to-day (Wednesday, Greater Litany) is 
the vigil of the great festival, which will be to-morrow (cf. R. 
John, xvn, 1, Wodnesdseg, Gang-wucan to ]?am Yigilian), 
because on that clay Jesus, after his resurrection, ascended to 
his Heavenly Father." In Homilies, I, xviii, p. 244, he attri- 
butes to Mamertus the establishment of the Greater Litany, 
and again, when, in his Homily on St. Gregory (Thorpe, II, 
ix ; Elstob's English-Saxon Homily, 26-27 ; Bright, Anglo- 
Saxon Reader, 90), he describes (p. 126) the establishment of 
the sevenfold Litany, he links it with no service in his own 
church. Hampson remarked (M. A, Kalendarium, I, 227) this 
peculiar usage. 

Wanley cites in his Catalogue (see Index) many Major 
Litany Homilies on the Gang-days. An extract from one of 
these shows the close allegiance to Gallic usage (S. 5, xxxix, 
422, "Serrno in Letania Majore," Wanley, p. 119): "M. p. 1. 
cwse'S se halga lareow hwset we gemnnan magon J?set we oft 
gehyrdon secgan J?set wise men fturh haliges Gastes gyfe 
gesetton us j?as halgan Gang-dagas, J?ry to fsestenne and on to 
gangenne ure sawle to j?earfe." Another piece of evidence 
to the close connection between Litania Major and Gang-days 
is that MS. S. 14, xlv, 219, Wanley, 135, gives "Alius sermo 
Feria in in Rogationibus " as the Rubric of a sermon, which 
is elsewhere (S. 5, xxxviii, 412, Wanley, 119) assigned to 
"Major Letania, Feria in." Bliohling Homily, ix (p. 104), 



122 FREDERICK TUPPER, JR. 

which has the Rubric, "Crist se Goldbloma," is found with 
Rubric, '< In Letania Majore, Feria Tertia" in MS. CCC. S. 
9, h. 33 (Morris, Introduction to Blickling Homilies, p. xn). 
The Gang-day Homilies of the Vercelli MS. ( Wulker, Grun- 
driss, p. 489) show the same usage ; but no clue to date is 
given by iElfric's Lives of the Saints, Rubric to xvn, Sermo 
in Laetania Majore. ByrhtferS, JElfric's contemporary, has 
doubtless the Major Litany in mind when he says (172, Anglia, 
viii, 329, 21) : "On morgen byS se forman gang-dseg. J?a dagas 
synt gehaten Letaniarum dies on grecisc and on lyden rogacio- 
num and on englisc ben-dagas." 

The Roman observance was by no means uncommon ; with 
the exception of the 10th Century, it was the prevailing usage 
in the Saxon Church. We are told in Coelendewide, 1. 70 : 

" ftaet embe nihtgontyne niht[gerimes] 
"Sees fte Easter-monaft to us cyme's 
ftset man reliquias rseran onginne'S 
halig[ra] gehyrste )>set is healic dseg 
ben-tiid bremu." 

The dates in these lines have proved a crux to scholars (see 
Grein, Germania, x, 422 ; Paul u. Braune Beitraege, x, 517 J 
Holthausen, Mittheilungen (Anglia, December, 1892), in, viii, 
239). Bouterwek makes a happy reference to Durham Ritual, 
p. 36, " Hi sunt capitulae in Letania Majore ]?set is on fif dagas," 
but his inference that the " five days " (April 20-25) were 
Gang-days is not warranted (infra). 

The Martyr Book, which, as Cockayne claims (Shrine, p. 44) 
and Wulker is inclined to think (Grundriss, p. 451), is of the 
age of iElfred, shows the Roman custom (Shrine, 74) : " On 
];one fif and twentegftan dseg ftses monies (April 25th) brcS 
seo tid on Rome and on eallum jodes ciricum, seo is nemned 
Laetania Majora, )>8et is ]?onne micelra bena dseg," etc. The 
Minor Litany also is recognized, Shrine, 79 (May 3rd) : " hwi- 
lum ser hwilum sefter beo$ |>a |?ry dagas on )>eem godes ciricum, 
and cristes folc msersiaft Letanias." These quotations from 
the Shrine were translated by Hampson (M. A. Kalendarium, 
I, 227) directly from MS. Julius A., x, fol. 86b. 



ANGLO-SAXON D^SG-M^L. 123 

In the Calendar in MS. Cott., Titus D., xxvn (Piper, 
76; Hampson, I, 438), composed certainly after 1012 A. D., 
as it contains under April 19th the name of St. Alphegius, 
who died in that year, Letania Major is placed on April 25th. 
This is the case in later Chronicle entries : A . 1066 (Th., 336), 
on ];one sefen Letania Majore J?e is vin Kalendas Mai ; E. 
1109, and wses se forma Easter dseg on Letania Major (a fixed 
date). Compare Hampson, Glossary s. v. Litania; Piper, 
Kalendarien, p. 90 ; Hazlitt, Popular Antiquities, I, 109. 

III. 

I have already noted the error of Bouterwek's belief (Ccelend- 
ewide, p. 24) that the Gang- week immediately preceded St. 
Mark's day. ByrhtferS's words (147, Anglia, vin, 324, 35) 
apply perfectly to the days before the Ascension. "Se mona 
in gangdagum ne mseg beon jungra J>onne an and twentig ne 
yldra J?onne nigon and twentig . . . Gangdagas ne magon nsefre 
beon ser v Kl. Mai ne sefter pridie ix KaL Junii." The 
Martyr Book, Shrine, 79, sub May 3rd, keeps the Gang-days 
perfectly distinct from its Litania Major of April 25 ; and 
" ]?a fif dagas " of the Durham Ritual (supra) has nothing to 
do with the Gang-days. " To Gangdagon J?sege l twegen dagas " 
(R. Luke, xi, 5) refer to Monday and Tuesday of Ascension 
week. Gang-days are mentioned in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle : 
A . 913, 921, 922, 1016, 1063, «a gangdagas (cited by Bouter- 
wek) ; A. 913, 922, betweox gangdagum and middan sumera ; 
1016, to J>am gangdagum after middan sumera (a mistake, 
Thorpe, p. 280). Compare Indexes in Thorpe, A. L. and in 
Schmid, Gesetze, and Annotated Prayer Book, 296-298. 

Ascension. 

In connection with this day the Eubrics, " On Wednesday 
in Gang-week at the Vigils" (R. John, xvn, 1) and " Thurs- 
day in Gang-week " (R. Mark, xvi, 4) must be mentioned. 

1 " J^ege" is a rare but legitimate form (cf. John xn, 14, where the Hatton 
MS. reads ")>a"). See Kluge, PauPs Grundriss I, 902, \ 122. 



124 FREDEKICK TUPPER, JR. 

The Durham Ritual, p. 127, mentions the Service, " De Ascen- 
sione ; " the Martyr Book, Shrine, 80, places under May 5th. 
"se dseg |?e ure Dryhten to heofonum astag;" and iElfric 
writes a Homily for the day (i, xxi, p. 294). Ascension Day 
was sometimes known as Holy Thursday : iElfred, v, 5, 
Schmid, Gesetze, 74, "se J?e stalaft on Sunnan-niht ofrSe on 
Gehhol o$$e on Eastron oft-Se on J>one Halgan punresdseg . . . 
twybote swa on Lencten fsesten." In Blickling Homilies, xi, 
155, the Rubric, "On J?a Halgan punresdseg" is written in a 
later hand. 

Pentecost. 

ByrhtferS gives definite rules for finding Pentecost: 147 
Anglia, vin, 324, 36, " Se mona on pentecosten ne mseg beon 
jungra J?on fif nihta ne yldra p>on endlufon. pentecosten ne 
mseg beon ser VI Id. Mai ne sefter Idus Junii." Cf. Id., 84, 
Anglia, vm, 311, 15; 172-173, Id., 329, 26. MS. Cott., 
Titus D., xxvii (Hampson, I, 439 ; Piper, p. 76), assigns the 
"Prima Pentecostes " to May 15th and " Ultima Pentecostes " 
to June 13th — an error, of course, as Pentecost can fall upon 
May 10th. The Martyr Booh {Shrine, 85, 3 ; Wanley, Cata- 
logue, 107) places " se micla dseg 3e is nemned Pentecosten " 
under May 15th. 

.ZElfric, Homilies, I, 310, draws from Beda's Pentecost 
Homily {Anglia, xvi, 20) an explanation of the significance 
of the day in the Old and New Dispensations. Compare 
Bliekling Homilies, 133, 11. 

The day is often mentioned in the Chronicle: A. B. C. E. 
626, on J?one halgan sefen Pentecostes; A. 972, on Pente 
costenes msesse-dseg ; D. 1067, on Hwitan Sunnan-dseg j 1 E. 

1 In an excellent article on " Lok Sounday," Harvard Studies and Notes in 
Philology and Literature, 1892, pp. 88-108, Professor John M. Manly has 
discussed exhaustively the Saxon Whitsunday. Id., Note 4, page 107, may 
be supplemented by a reference to the Mark Capitula in the " Lindisfarne 
MS.," Skeat, Gospel ace. to St. Mark, 5, " Post Pentecosten in jejunium feria, 
hi . . . feria vi de albas Paschae -' = sefter fifteig dseg fsestern wodnes-dsege 
. . . frige-dseg of ftsem hwitum eostres ." See Baron, Guardian, Aug. 17th, 
1859 ; Earle, Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, Note to page 347. 



ANGLO-SAXON BiEG-M^L. 125 

1086, to }>am Pentecosten ; E. 1087, on Pentecosten ; 1099, 
1100, 1102, on Pentecosten msessan wucan ; 1104, $ises geares 
wses se forma Pentecostes daeg on Nonas Jun. 1107, 1108, 
1109, 1110, 1111, 1113, 1121, 1123, ofer Pentecoste wuce. 
For service at Pentecost, compare Concordia, viii, Durham 
Ritual, 127 ; for Pentecost laws, Edgar, n, 3, Schmid, 186 ; 
^Ethelred,v, 11, Schmid, 222; vi, 17, Schmid, 230; vni, 9, 
Schm., 244 ; Canute, I, 8, Schm., 258 ; 1, 16, § 1, Schm., 264. 

Ember Days. 

Baron (Johnson's Laws and Canons, 173-180) has made a 
careful study of these periods of fasting in the Anglo-Saxon 
Church. The etymology of " Ember " has long since been 
made clear (compare Century and New English Dictionaries); 
but Lingard, Anglo-Saxon Church, 1845, I, 427, believed that 
" ymbren " denoted some part of the service of the day, proba- 
bly the circuit or public procession made at that time. Ymbren, 
however, often occurs in the sense of "year's course" (iElfric, 
Homilies, I, 104, 18, eft ymbe geara ymbrynum ; n, 84, 24; 
98, 20; 182, 26, etc.; compare Marshall, p. 528); and we are 
told of the Quatuor Tempora by Leo (442 A. D.), cited by Baron, 
Id., 176 : " ita per totius anni circulum distributa sunt." 

The position of the Ember Days changed within Anglo- 
Saxon times. According to the " Penitentiale " of Ecgbert, 
Add. 21, Thorpe, .4. L., 391, "J?a riht ymbren dagas" fell 
"on Kl. Martii on J?gere forman wucan and Kal. Julii on 
J>8ere afteran wucan and on Kal. Septembri on ]?sere J?riddan 
wucan and on Kal. Decembri on ]?a nehstan wucan 8er Cristes 
rnsessan." This was the Gregorian arrangement, Liber Sacra- 
mentorum, 106, 400, M. P. £., 78, 118, 391 (cf. JEthelred, vi, 
23, and ymbren and fsesten swa swa Scs. Gregorius Angelcynne 
sylf hit gedihte). This arrangement was adhered to by Calen- 
dar Cott. Vitellius E. xvin of the 11th Century (Hampson, 
M. A. Kal., i, 422 sq., Glossary, s. v. Ember Days). In the 
"Dialogus" of Ecgbert (Baron, Id., 180) and in our Rubrics, 



126 FREDERICK TUPPER, JR. 

the Ember Weeks were the First Week in Lent, Pentecost 
Week, the Week before Harvest Equinox, and the Week before 
Midwinter. They were established at their present position 
by the Council of Placentia (1095 A. D.) (N. E. Diet s. v. ; 
Ann. Prayer Booh, 236, 248, 270, 673). The Ember Days 
were always on Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays ; compare 
ByrhtferS, 88, Anglia, vm, 311, 38 ; 90, Id., 312, 13. The 
Concordia, 584, 1036, gives the service at these times; and 
the Laws direct, on the Ember Days, fasting (Canute, I, 16, 
Schmid, 262), forbid oaths and ordeals (iEthelred, v, 18, 
Schm., 224; vi, 25, Schm., 230; Canute, i, 17, Schm., 264), 
and make the four Wednesdays prominent among the days 
of rejoicing for "theow-men" and freemen (iElfred, 43, 
Schm., 96). 

Midsummer. 

" Bsenne wuldres $egn 
ymb ftreotyne J^eodnes dyrling 
Johannes in geardagan wearS acenned 
tyn nihtum eac we $a tide healdaft 
on midne suinor." (Ccelendcwide, 1. 115). 

Bouterwek's long note to this passage renders mine short. 
Hickes, Ant. Lit. Sept., I, 219, cites from the Martyr Book 
this passage (Shrine, 95, 4): "On }>one feower and twentej 
J>an dseg J?8es monies bi$ See. Johannes acennes ]?ses fulweres, 
se wses acenned sex monSum ser Crist and Gabriel se heah 
engel bodade acennesse and ssegde his feeder his noman ser 
)>on he acenned wsere." St. Augustine's pretty symbolism in 
iElfric's Homily upon this day (i, xxv, p. 356) has already 
been noted. 

Midsummer is mentioned frequently in the Chronicle: A. 
898, »r middum sumera; B. C. 916, A. 920, 922, foran to 
middan sumera; B. 918, xn nihtum ser middan sumera (C. 
inserts pridie Id Junii) ; A. 922, xn nihtum ser middan 
sumera; C. D. E. 1006, ofer J?one midne sumor; C. D. E. 
1016, sefter middan sumera; C. D. 1040, foran to middan 



ANGLO-SAXON D^G-MJSL. 127 

sumera (E. 1039, vn nihtum ser middan suniera) ; C. 1056, 
Vin nihton (D. eh tan nihte) ser middan sumera; E. 1131, 
and J?8Br wunode eall to mid sumer daei and j?es ofter daies 
after, S. Johannis messedai; D. 1068; E. 1097, 1101, 1114. 
For discussions of Midsummer, compare Belethus, Chap. 137, 
p. 365; Grimm, Teutonic Mythology, 617-624, 757; Hazlitt, 
Popular Antiquities, 1, 169-] 87 ; Gummere, Germanic Origins, 
p. 402 ; Annotated Prayer Book, St. John Baptist's Day. 

St. Michael's Mass Pay. 

For a list of MSS. containing homilies for this day, compare 
Morris, Blickling Homilies, Introduction, xv. Just as Rome- 
penny was exacted at Peter's Mass (Andrews's Old English 
Manor), so " pecunia eleemosinae " was exacted in this time 
(^thelred, vn, 7, Schni., 241 ; Anhang, in, § 4, Schm., 374). 1 
A three days fast was also enjoined (iEthelred, vn, 7, Schm., 
240). 

All Saints' Mass. 

"And J>y ylcan dsege ealra we healdaft 
Sancta symbel $ara %e sift oftfte ser 
Worhtan in worulde willan drihtnes." 

(Coslendcwide, 1. 199). 
Compare Bede, Latin Poetical Calendar (Piper) ; Martyr Book 
(Shrine, 144 ; Wanley, Catalogue, p. 108), ealra halgena tid ; 
iElfric, Homilies, I, 359 ; Leechdoms, ni, 155, All Hallows an 
unfavorable time for blood-letting ; Laws, Schmid, Index. 

Advent. 

The " Before Midwinter " Rubrics will fall, of course, under 
this head. A rule for determining the beginning of Advent is 
given in MS. Cott., Cal. A., xv, fol. 126a, Leechdoms, in, 226 : 

1 The enumeration of Church Dues, MS. Tiberius A. in, fol. 89a., has been 
printed by Cockayne, Shrine, p. 208. 



128 FREDERICK TUPPER, JR. 

"iElce jeare J?onne )?u scyle witan hwylce dsege man scyle 
weorSian, and healdan J?one halgan sunnan daeg, adventum 
doraini, warna J>e J>anne J?set ]?u hit naht ser v, Kal. Decemb ? 
(Nov. 27) ne naht sefter ill, Nonas J>ises sylfes monies (Dec. 3) ne 
healde ; ac on J>ison seofan dagum J>u scealt healdan butan selcere 
tweonuDge }>one da3g and )?one tokyme mid ealre arwurSnesse." 
JElfric says of the season [Homilies, I, 600) : " ]?eos tid 
oft midne winter is gecweden, adventus domini, J?set is 
drihtnes to-cyme. His to-cyme is his menniscnys. . . . 
Nu stent se gewuna on Godes gelaftunge, ]?aet ealle Godes 
fteowan on cyrclicum ftenungum, segfter ge on halgum raedin- 
gum ge on gedremum lofsangum, ftsere witegena gyddunga 
singallice on f>yssere tide reccaft." At this time the Laws 
forbid ordeals and oaths (iEthelred, v, 18, Schm id, 224 ; 
Wulfstan, xxin (47), 117, 15), and "wifunga" (^Ethelred, 
VI, 25, Schm., 230; Canute, i, 17, Schm., 264). Compare 
Durham Ritual, 127, "De Adventu Domini;" Concordia, 
487, on to-cyme Drihtnes = In Adventu Domini ; Capitula 
in Lindisfarne MS.; Ann. Prayer Book, 116, 245-249, 592. 

On Saitei^n-daig to JEw-fastene air Middan-wintra, 
R. Luke, in, 1. 

Marshall's translation (p. 532), "Sabbato Quatuor Tem- 
porum Adventus " is not strictly correct and his note shows 
how much the Rubric perplexed him : u ^Ew Saxonibus nos- 
tris significabat jejuni um-nuptias. . . . An vero haec feria 
esurialis dicta fuerit JEw-fsesten quod fortasse seculis illis 
remotioribus aeque ac quibusdam citerioribus prohibitum 
fuisset majoribus nostris celebrare nuptias sub banc Jejunii 
solemnitatem, definiant alii quibus copia librorum otiumque 
eos versandi suppetunt." Blessed with the " greater supply 
of books," Bosworth explains " aew-fsesten " as " a fixed or 
legal fast" (Gospels, p. 578 ; Bosworth-Toller, s. v.). 

Are JEw-fa3sten and iE-fsesten identical ? M means both 
"law" and "marriage" (Bosworth-Toller, s. v.); and iEw 



ANGLO-SAXON D^EG-M^L. 129 

appears with the meaning "law," Ine, Prosemium, 1 (Thorpe, 
A. L., 45). In the place cited other MSS. read sewe and ae 
(cf. O. Frs., &, §, ewe; O. H. G., ewa, eha, £a). Schmid, 
Glossar, s. v. .ZEwe regards ^w as a plural form of JE. In 
any case, it is clear that we may regard iEw-fsesten as a variant 
of iE-fsesten and not as a "jejunium-nuptiae." 

The .iE-festene are thus described by Ecgbert, " Confes- 
sionale," 37, Thorpe, A. L., 358 : " Breo ce-fcestenu (legitima 
jejunia) syndon on geare; an ofer eall folc, swa J>set XL nihta 
fora*n to Eastron, J?onne we }>one teoSan sceat J^ses geares lysaft ; 
and pcet xl nihta azr ic^eolum, J?onne gebiddeft hine eall J?aet 
werod fore, and orationes rseda^, and ]?set XL nihta ofer Pente- 
costen." Another description will be found, " Capitula " of 
Theodore, Thorpe, A. L., 309. These fasts are elsewhere 
referred to : " Penitentiale " of Ecgbert, Add. 21, Thorpe, A. 
L., 391, fa3ste XL daga, butan |?am se-fsestenum (exceptis 
legitimis jejuniis) and lengten fasten ; " Confessionale " of 
Ecgbert, xxix, Thorpe, A. L., 355, gif wif dry-crseft and 
galdor and unlibban wyrce, fseste xn mona^ o&3e in ge-fses- 
tenu o3$e XL nihta ; Id., xxx. The word iE-fsesten is used 
with a broader meaning, "Penitentiale " of Ecgbert, Add., I, 
Thorpe, A. L., 390, and aa hwile ]>e he lifige, fseste Wodnes- 
dagum and Frige-dagum and ]?a j?reo or&re se-faestenu forga 
fleesc. In the Notes to Gregory's Liber Sacramentorum, M. 
P. L., 78, § 445, p. 433, the three Quadragesimas or " legitima 
jejunia" are discussed at length, and their observance among 
the Gauls of the Sixth Century proved. Bede mentions them, 
Eccl. Hist, in, xix, 244, 22 ; iv, xxxi, 376, 9. 

If iEw-fsestene is the Winter Quadragesima, to what Satur- 
day in the fast does our Rubric apply ? Without doubt, to the 
Saturday immediately before Midwinter. (1). In Calendar, 
Cott. Vitellius, E. xvin, printed by Hampson, M. A. KaL, I, 
433, "Mense December in proximo Sabbato ante vigilia Natale 
Domini celebratio." (2). Of all the Ember Days in the year, 
this alone has received no gospel. (3). The gospel for the 
Saturday of iEw-faastene before Midwinter corresponds to the 
9 



130 FREDERICK TUPPER, JR. 

text of Gregory's Homily " In Sabbato Quat. Temp, ante Nat. 
Christi" (Tables). 



To Cyric-halgungum. R. John, x, 22. 

Marshall, p. 533 and Piper, Kalendarien, 107, show that 
each cloister had its Wake day. Church-hallowings are men- 
tioned frequently in Anglo-Saxon writings : iEthelwold, " De 
Consuetudine Monachorum," Engl. Stud., IX, 296, singan hi 
be J>8ere cyric-halgung ; Concordia, 546, 620 ; iElfric, Homi- 
lies, II, 574; Martyr Booh {Shrine, 136, 4 ; Wanley, Catalogue, 
109), on )>one xxviiii dseg j?ses monies (September) br3 See. 
Michael Cirican gehalgung ; Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, 1065 
(Thorpe, 332), and Edward Kinge com to Westmynstre to 
]?am middanwintre and seo Cyrc-halgung was on Cilda-msesse- 
daeg and he forSferde on Twelftan iEfen ; Wright- Wulker, 
Vocabularies, 484, 13, Scenophegia, tabernaculorum dedicatio; 
484, 16, Encenie, nove dedicationis (compare Belethus, c. 134, 
p. 364, Scenophegia, ante fixionem tabernaculorum in Septem- 
bri ; Encenia, dedicatio in Decembri). 

Bede, Eccl Hist, in, xvn, 232, 3, tells us of Cedd : " He 
said it was the habit of those from whom he learnt the rule of 
monastic discipline, to hallow first to the Lord, by prayer and 
fasting, the new sites which they received for the erection of 
monastery or church." Wulfstan, Homilies, liv, 277, 10, thus 
addresses his flock : " Leo fan men ic wille eow nu cy$an ymbe 
cyric niaersunge }>a3t ge J?e geornor understandan magan hu man 
cirican weor)?ian scyle ]>e gode sylfum to lofe and to wurSmynte 
gehalgod br3." Such advice was necessary, to judge from iEl- 
fric, Lives of the Saints, xxi, 313 : 

" Sume men eac drincaft aet deadra manna lice 
Ofer ealle J>a niht swifte unrihtlice 
And gremiaft god mid heora gegaf-spraece 
J>onne nan gebeorscipe, ne gebyraft aet lice 
Ac halige gebedu J>ser gebyriaft swifter." 



ANGLO-SAXON D^G-M^L. 131 

This must have been equally true of Church-wakes to make 
necessary Canons of Edgar, 28, Thorpe, A. L., 397, " and we 
lara^S J>set man set ciric-wseccan swrSe gedreoh si, and georne 
gebidde and senig gedrince and senig unnit j?ar ne dreoge." 

Useful references are: Spelman, Glossary, s. v. Wak, "Haec 
eadem sunt quae apud Ethnicos Paganalia dicuntur;" Hamp- 
son, M. A. KaL, I, 351 sq. ; Glossary, s. v. Wake; Bouterwek, 
Ccelendcwide s. " Michaheles ; " Hazlitt, Popular Antiquities, II, 
1 . A stanza from a song of the German Steiermarker ( Chronik 
der Zeit (1892), Heft, xvn) will show how such an anniver- 
sary is celebrated in our own day : 

" Und kimmt halt der Kirta 
Da geh'n wir zum Tanz 
Da wixt sie sich z'samma. 
Kecht nett auf'n Glanz." 

Note. — With the exception of a few recent references, my work has been 
in its present form since May, 1893 ; but publication has been delayed by 
unavoidable circumstances. 

Frederick Tupper, Jr. 



LIFE. 

I was born at Charleston, S. C, and received my early training 
at the High School and the College of that city. At the com- 
pletion of my undergraduate work, in 1890, I entered the Johns 
Hopkins University. English was selected as my major subject ; 
and, during the second year of my residence, a University 
Scholarship and a Fellowship in my chosen department were 
awarded me. My studies, main and subsidiary, have been under 
Professors Bright and Browne, — Adams and Emmott, — Gilder- 
sleeve, Wood, and Elliott. To all these gentlemen, I give sincere 
thanks for the kindnesses that I have received at their hands ; 
and to Dr. Bright, in particular, I desire to express my warmest 
appreciation of the interest that he has taken in my career and 
of the impetus that he has given to my work. 



Frederick Tupper, Jr. 



Johns Hopkins University, 
May 1, 1893. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 

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